It grinds my gears how the term "common law" is being used in the context of statutory law. E.g., income tax acts, adult interdependent partners act, matrimonial property act.... Common law and statutory law are completely different things.
Common law marriage is a real marriage, entered into willingly and intentionally by the partners -- just without religious or government sanction. But according to Wikipedia, that's not a recognized thing in Canada. So all these references are actually to statutory definitions of relationships and the responsibilities incurred.
Semantics, I know. IANAL. Also, I am anal about language.
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