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- Title
YOU'RE (STILL) MY PERSON: REIGNITING THE DISCUSSION ON RECOGNIZING AND REGULATING ADULT INTERDEPENDENT RELATIONSHIPS AND NON-CONJUGAL FAMILIES IN CANADA.
- Authors
LANK, HANNAH
- Abstract
In the 1990's and 2000's, the question of whether adult interdependent relationships should be legally recognized was common in academic discussion and often appeared in conjunction with discussions on the legalization of same-sex marriage. After same-sex marriage was legalized in Canada in 2005, much of the legal discussion regarding non-conjugal families dissipated. However, adult interdependent relationships remain real and deserving of legal recognition. While the question of who and what constitutes 'the family' appears settled in Canadian case law, it continues to exclude some ways in which Canadians arrange their personal lives. By continuing to focus on conjugality, Canadian family law excludes non-conjugal families and denies these individuals the positive benefits that come from legal recognition of one's family. Important public policy benefits could be achieved by recognizing these relationships, and the need for some such benefits have been emphasized by the COVID-19 pandemic, including addressing issues of loneliness and gaps in caregiving. The best model for regulating adult interdependent relationships is an opt-in registration scheme, which is ideally suited for interdependent relationships between two individuals but may also accommodate larger familial relationships.
- Subjects
FRIENDSHIP; GOVERNMENT policy; LEGALIZATION; SAME-sex marriage; NON-contentious jurisdiction
- Publication
University of Toronto Faculty of Law Review, 2022, Vol 80, Issue 2, p197
- ISSN
0381-1638
- Publication type
Article