Common-Law Partners and Funeral Rights in Nunavut: What the Law Actually Says

Many couples in Nunavut live together as common-law partners for years — sometimes decades — without a formal marriage. In much of Canada, common-law relationships now carry significant legal recognition, including inheritance rights and the right to make decisions on a partner's behalf. In Nunavut, the law is far more restrictive. A common-law partner who survives the death of their partner may find themselves legally excluded from funeral decisions, inheritance, and the home they shared — regardless of the length or depth of the relationship.

The Legal Gap: How Nunavut Defines "Spouse"

Nunavut's Intestate Succession Act governs what happens when a person dies without a Will. It defines a "spouse" strictly as a legally married individual. Common-law partners are not recognized as spouses under this statute.

This means that if you are in a common-law relationship and your partner dies without a Will:

• You have no automatic right to control the funeral or burial arrangements
• You have no automatic right to inherit from the estate
• The legal authority over the body and the estate passes to the legal next of kin: in order, the legally married spouse (if there was a previous marriage that was not legally ended), adult children, parents, and then siblings

In a territory where many long-term relationships are not formalized through legal marriage, this gap creates genuine, foreseeable harm.

Funeral Authority in a Common-Law Relationship

Legal authority over funeral and burial decisions follows this hierarchy:

1. The executor named in a valid Will
2. The legally married spouse
3. Adult children
4. Parents
5. Siblings and more distant relatives

A common-law partner does not appear in this hierarchy unless they are named as executor in a Will. If the deceased left no Will and had estranged parents or adult children from a previous relationship, those relatives may have higher legal authority over the funeral than the surviving partner who shared a home with the deceased for twenty years.

This is not a hypothetical edge case. In communities throughout Nunavut, family structures are complex, and formal wills are uncommon. The result is that common-law partners regularly find themselves without legal standing at exactly the moment when it matters most.

Inheritance Rights: The $50,000 Preferential Share Problem

Even for legally married spouses, Nunavut's intestate succession law has a striking limitation: the preferential share — the amount a surviving married spouse receives off the top before the remainder is divided with the children — is only $50,000. This is notably low compared to most other Canadian jurisdictions, where preferential shares range from $200,000 to $350,000.

For a common-law partner, this $50,000 limitation is irrelevant because they receive nothing automatically. A common-law partner who wants to protect their home and livelihood must have a Will explicitly naming them as a beneficiary — and that Will must have been properly executed.

What to Do

If you are in a common-law relationship: The most direct protection is a properly executed Will naming your partner as executor and primary beneficiary. This gives your partner both funeral authority (as executor) and inheritance rights (as named beneficiary). Without this, they have neither.

If your partner has died without a Will and you are common-law: You may have legal options, but they require immediate action and legal counsel. A constructive trust claim or a dependent's relief claim can sometimes protect a surviving partner's interest in a shared home or other assets, but these are court proceedings — expensive, slow, and uncertain. Contact a lawyer immediately before any estate assets are distributed.

If there is a family dispute about funeral arrangements: The dispute must ultimately be resolved either through agreement or through the Nunavut Court of Justice. The court will apply the statutory hierarchy, which does not include common-law partners unless they are named as executor.

The Broader Picture

The combination of Nunavut's strict intestacy law, the absence of Advance Directive legislation, and the single-provider funeral market creates a situation where the consequences of inadequate planning fall heavily on those in non-traditional family structures. The territory's social and demographic reality — where many relationships are common-law, where Wills are uncommon, and where family structures are complex — makes this issue more acute than the law's drafters perhaps anticipated.

The Nunavut Funeral Laws & Consumer Rights Guide at /ca/nunavut/survivor-benefits/ includes a complete overview of funeral authority rules, the intestacy hierarchy, and practical planning steps for common-law couples in Nunavut.

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