What a De Facto Spouse Is Not Entitled To When a Partner Dies
By Jose Salloum, Financial Security Advisor (Conseiller en sécurité financière) | September 2026
This article is general financial education about life insurance beneficiary designations. It is not legal or tax advice, and it is not a recommendation. Beneficiary designations, wills, probate, creditor protection, and estate structuring, including the particularities of Quebec's Civil Code, are the domain of a lawyer or notary; tax questions are the domain of a qualified tax professional. A licensed insurance professional coordinates the beneficiary designation on the policy with those advisors. This article is educational only.
In plain language: this describes how the rules generally work in Canada. What should happen in your estate depends on your will, your ownership, and your province, and belongs to a lawyer or notary, with your accountant on the tax. This is the background reading, not the plan.
Before you act on anything about tax on this page
This practice is licensed in life and health insurance. It is not an accounting practice, it does not prepare returns, and nothing on this page is tax advice or an opinion on anybody’s tax position.
- Speak to an accountant before you act. Not after. If tax is any part of the reason a decision is being considered, a professional accountant who has seen the actual file is the person to decide it with, and this page is not a substitute for that conversation.
- The rules move. Tax rules, thresholds, rates, forms and deadlines change, most of them at least once a year, and a rule described here may have been amended since this page was built.
- The tax authority is the authority. For anything a reader intends to rely on, the Canada Revenue Agency and, in Quebec, Revenu Quebec publish the current rule themselves, free, and that is where it should be read.
- Nothing here is a calculation of anybody’s tax. This page describes how a rule is written. It does not work out what any reader will pay, recover or owe, because that depends on a whole return and on facts no page can see.
- No professional relationship is created by reading this. No reliance should be placed on it, and nothing in it is legal advice either.
In plain language: we are not accountants. Anything here that touches tax is general information, it changes, and it should be checked with an accountant and against the tax authority’s own page before anybody uses it for anything.
Key Takeaways
- Without a will, a de facto spouse in Quebec inherits nothing. That is still the rule after the 2025 family law reform, for every couple outside a parental union.
- The exception is a parental union: a spouse in one may inherit a third of the estate, with two thirds to the children.
- Where there is no will and no parental union, and there are children, the whole estate goes to the children in equal shares. The surviving partner receives nothing.
- With a spouse in the legal sense and children, the shares are a third to the spouse and two thirds to the children. With a spouse and no children, two thirds to the spouse and a third to surviving parents.
- A life insurance beneficiary designation is the route that works, because a named beneficiary is paid directly rather than through the estate.
- The Civil Code makes one designation automatically irrevocable: the designation of a MARRIED or CIVIL UNION spouse, unless the contract says otherwise. A de facto spouse is not in that article.
- Which means a designation in favour of a de facto partner is revocable, and can be changed without their knowledge, unless the contract states it is irrevocable.
Quebec couples are told, correctly, that living together creates few rights. Then a reform arrives, the headlines say de facto spouses now have rights, and a great many people conclude something that is not true: that a partner will now inherit. For most couples, nothing changed at all. This page is about exactly who is covered, who is not, and what actually works.
The rule, and it has not changed for most couples
De facto spouses do not inherit from each other on death, unless a will provides otherwise. The notaries state it plainly and it remains the position after the reform.
There is no automatic survivor protection. A will or a life insurance designation is required.
The reform of 30 June 2025 created one exception, and it is narrow: a surviving spouse linked to the deceased by a PARENTAL UNION is now covered by the rules of legal devolution. The notaries put the share at a third of the estate, with two thirds to the children.
A parental union requires a child born or adopted on or after that date, or a voluntary joining. So a couple of twenty years with no children, or with children born in 2019, is in the same position as before: nothing.
That is the sentence to take away. The reform helped a specific group. For everybody else the old advice still applies, and the headlines have made that harder rather than easier to understand.
Who inherits instead, and in what shares
Where there is no will, the Civil Code decides, and the order surprises people.
A de facto spouse with no parental union, where there are children: the whole of the estate goes to the children in equal shares. The surviving partner receives nothing at all, however long they lived together and whoever paid for the house.
Children and no spouse in the legal sense: everything to the children in equal shares.
A spouse in the legal sense, meaning married, in a civil union, or now in a parental union, together with children: a third to the spouse and two thirds to the children in equal shares.
A spouse in the legal sense and no children: two thirds to the spouse and a third to the surviving parents in equal shares.
No spouse and no children: half to the parents in equal shares and half to the brothers and sisters in equal shares.
Read the first of those again. A surviving partner in a house they helped pay for, with children who inherit the whole of it, is a common and entirely lawful outcome in Quebec.
The designation, which is the route that works
A life insurance beneficiary is a matter of choice. Educaloi states that a policyholder is free to choose the person who will be the beneficiary, and it may be a person or an organisation.
Where no beneficiary was specified, the person who concluded the contract, or their heirs, may receive the benefit. Which is the whole point: a named beneficiary is paid, and where nobody is named the money falls back toward the estate and the devolution rules above.
The notaries name this explicitly as the way to provide for a surviving de facto partner.
This page will not tell you that a designation prevails over a will, in those words, because that sentence could not be verified at statute level. What the material does support is narrower and sufficient: a valid designation pays the named beneficiary, and a person who is not named relies on the devolution rules, which for a de facto spouse outside a parental union give nothing.
The same caution applies to registered plans. The Quebec rules for naming a beneficiary of a registered plan could not be verified from an official source, so no rule for them is stated here. Ask a notary about those specifically, because the answer depends on the type of plan and on who issued it.
The one designation the Code makes irrevocable
There is a provision in the Civil Code that almost nobody knows about until it blocks something, and it draws a line exactly where this page is drawing one.
The designation of the person to whom the policyholder is MARRIED or UNITED CIVILLY as beneficiary is irrevocable, unless the contract stipulates otherwise.
So a married spouse named as beneficiary cannot simply be removed. Their consent is needed, because the Code made the designation irrevocable by default.
A de facto spouse is not named in that article. A designation in favour of a de facto partner is therefore revocable unless the contract itself says it is irrevocable, which means it can be changed, at any time, without the partner knowing.
Two people in identical circumstances, one married and one not, have entirely different security in the same document. That is not an oversight in the law. It is the law’s deliberate distinction, and it is worth knowing before relying on a designation as though it were permanent.
A designation can also be changed by will where the beneficiary is revocable. Notifying the insurer in writing is the other route. Where a contract is silent and a couple wants permanence, the thing to ask for is an irrevocable designation written into the contract.
What a de facto couple can actually do
Find out whether you are in a parental union. That turns on whether a child was born or adopted on or after the thirtieth of June 2025, or whether you joined voluntarily. A great many couples do not know the answer.
If you are not in one, and nothing else is done, understand what happens: the surviving partner inherits nothing under the devolution rules.
Read the beneficiary designations you already hold, on every contract and not just the newest one. A designation made before a relationship began, or before a previous one ended, is still in force and still pays whoever it names.
Ask whether the designations that matter are revocable or irrevocable, and if permanence is what you want, ask for it in the contract.
And see a notary about the will, because none of the above substitutes for one, and the notarial act is where the rest of an estate is settled.
Nothing on this page is legal advice. What is inside this practice is the insurance side of it: reading the designations a household already holds, and saying what they will actually do.
Where to read this at the source
The statement that de facto spouses do not inherit from each other, the inheritance right created for a spouse in a parental union and the share of a third, and the identification of life insurance as the route to provide for a surviving partner are published by the Chambre des notaires du Quebec. The intestate shares and the freedom to choose a beneficiary are published by Educaloi. The irrevocability of a designation in favour of a married or civil union spouse is article 2449 of the Civil Code of Quebec, read on the province’s own legislation site.
Read on 30 September 2026, free to consult. Two things are absent on purpose: any rule for naming a beneficiary of a registered plan in Quebec, and any flat statement that a designation prevails over a will. Neither could be verified at statute level, and a rule stated wrongly about a death benefit is not a small error.
Sources
- Chambre des notaires du Quebec, are de facto spouses subject to the same rules as married spouses, and the FAQ on the share a spouse receives on death in a parental union, cnq.org, read 30 September 2026
- Educaloi, dying without a will, and life insurance, educaloi.qc.ca, read 30 September 2026
- Civil Code of Quebec, article 2449, legisquebec.gouv.qc.ca, read 30 September 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a de facto spouse inherit in Quebec without a will?
No, unless a parental union exists. A spouse in a parental union may inherit a third of the estate, with two thirds to the children. Every other de facto spouse inherits nothing without a will.
Who inherits if a de facto partner dies without a will and there are children?
The whole estate goes to the children in equal shares. The surviving de facto partner receives nothing, however long the couple lived together.
What are the intestate shares in Quebec?
A spouse in the legal sense with children: a third to the spouse, two thirds to the children. A spouse and no children: two thirds to the spouse, a third to surviving parents. No spouse and no children: half to the parents and half to the brothers and sisters. Spouse here means married, civil union, or parental union.
Can a de facto partner be named as a life insurance beneficiary?
Yes. A policyholder is free to choose the beneficiary, and the notaries name life insurance as the way to provide for a surviving de facto partner. A named beneficiary is paid directly; where nobody is named the benefit falls back toward the estate.
Can a beneficiary designation be changed without the beneficiary knowing?
For a de facto partner, generally yes, unless the contract states the designation is irrevocable. The Civil Code makes the designation of a married or civil union spouse irrevocable by default, unless the contract stipulates otherwise. A de facto spouse is not in that provision.
Did the 2025 reform give de facto spouses the right to inherit?
Only those in a parental union, which requires a child born or adopted on or after the thirtieth of June 2025 or a voluntary joining. A couple with no children, or with children born earlier and no voluntary joining, is in the same position as before the reform.
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About the author
Jose Salloum is a Financial Security Advisor (Conseiller en sécurité financière) licensed by the Autorité des marchés financiers in Quebec, by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario, and by the Insurance Council of British Columbia. Licensed since 2001, he works with Canadian families, business owners and incorporated professionals.
He is the founder of Canadian Wealth Creation Centre Inc. (CWCC), registered with the AMF, and of its educational branch IBCFinancial.com. He holds the Infinite Banking Concepts® Authorized Practitioner certification from the Nelson Nash Institute, a private certification rather than a regulatory licence.
CWCC is not registered with CIRO and does not provide securities advice. This page is general education and not advice on any individual file.
Important disclosures
This page is education, not advice. The content is general information prepared by Canadian Wealth Creation Centre Inc. It does not take your circumstances into account and is not a recommendation to buy, hold or cancel any contract. CWCC is not registered with CIRO and does not provide securities advice. The firm places insurance in Quebec, Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba and New Brunswick; clients elsewhere are served by advisors licensed in their province.
Nothing here was written with your file in front of us. Read it to understand the subject, then judge it against your own situation, ideally with someone who is licensed where you live and who has seen your numbers.
This is not tax advice, and the tax treatment depends on your own circumstances. The tax treatment described depends on the contract remaining exempt under the Income Tax Regulations and on the reader’s individual circumstances. A withdrawal, a surrender or a policy loan may be a disposition under the Income Tax Act, and amounts above the adjusted cost basis may be taxable in the year they occur. Tax rules change. Canadian Wealth Creation Centre Inc. is licensed in life and health insurance. It is not an accounting practice, it does not prepare returns, and nothing on this site is tax advice or an opinion on any reader’s tax position. Anything a reader intends to rely on should be confirmed with a professional accountant and against the current published rule of the Canada Revenue Agency and, in Quebec, Revenu Québec.
The tax result is not automatic and it is not unconditional. It rests on the contract staying within the Canadian rules and on your own situation. Before you rely on any of it, talk to an accountant who has actually worked with these contracts.