Polyamorous Relationships and Family Law in Canada /

With reference to the second marriage, it is sufficient if the parties go through the forms and ceremonies legal and necessary in the place of celebration, though the marriage itself, from the circumstances attending it, is void, as not being recognized by the law; but the form of ceremony must be recognized by the law of the place where it is solemnized. [...] Maura Strassberg described polyamory in a 2003 article in the Capital University Law Review as follows:29 … Contemporary practitioners have coined the names “polyamory” and “polyfidelity” to describe a wide range of partner arrangements that vary as to the number of people involved, the sexes of those involved, the sexualities of those involved, the level of commitment of those involved, and the k [...] Apart from that, however, the parties to a polyamorous ménage will need to be concerned with the following matters when the household dissolves or diminishes: a) the care and management of children after the departure of one or more members from the household; b) the payment of child support and children’s special expenses; c) entitlement to and liability for the payment of spousal support; d) the [...] Determining the applicable law The legislation that might apply at the dissolution of a dyadic relationship includes the federal Divorce Act,56 for married spouses, and a miscellany of provincial or territorial legislation specific to the domicile of the parties, whether married or unmarried.57 The uncodified principles of equity and the common law that might also apply in family law disputes incl [...] Pursuant to s. 21(3), a parent may demonstrate an intention to assume the responsibility of a guardian in respect of a child in one or more of eleven advertent and inadvertent circumstances: (a) being married to the other parent at the time of the birth of the child, (b) being the adult interdependent partner of the other parent at the time of the birth of the child or becoming the adult interdepe