By Neta, founder of SortMyDivorce · Updated
Almost everything written about divorce in Canada is written about the common law provinces. Quebec is a civil law jurisdiction, and enough is genuinely different that importing advice from Ontario or Alberta will mislead you. This guide is for Quebec. Divorce itself is federal and applies across Canada. Almost everything you will actually negotiate — property, the process, who can represent you — is provincial, and Quebec's provincial law is different in kind, not just in detail.
| Legal system | Civil law, under the Civil Code of Québec. The other provinces are common law. |
|---|---|
| Three kinds of separation | De facto separation · legal separation (separation from bed and board) · divorce. |
| Legal separation exists here | Unlike the rest of Canada. It requires a Superior Court judgment and "does not terminate the marriage." |
| Family patrimony | A mandatory core of family property divided equally by value, not necessarily in kind. |
| Matrimonial regime | A second, separate layer governing property outside the family patrimony. |
| Notaries | Since February 2017 a notary can represent both spouses in an amicable divorce and file it with the court. |
| De facto spouses | Historically no property rights on separation. |
| Parental union | New regime, in force 30 June 2025, for de facto spouses who have a child on or after that date. |
| Child support | The Québec model, not the Federal Child Support Guidelines. |
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Quebec distinguishes them formally, and the distinction matters because they have different consequences.
De facto separation. The spouses agree to stop living together, or one leaves the family home. Legally nothing has changed — you remain married or in a civil union, and "each spouse retains his or her rights and obligations in respect of their children."
Legal separation — separation from bed and board. This is the one that does not exist elsewhere in Canada. It requires a Superior Court judgment, and it "frees married spouses from the obligation to live together" where the will to live together is seriously undermined. The court settles custody, access, support and the division of property. Critically: "unlike divorce, legal separation does not terminate the marriage." You are separated by court order and still married.
Divorce. The only way to end a marriage. Spouses who agree can apply jointly; where they cannot agree, one spouse applies and the court decides.
This is why "legal separation" searches behave so differently in Quebec than in the rest of Canada. Elsewhere in Canada there is no legal separation status at all — you are separated when one spouse decides the relationship is over and acts on it. In Quebec it is a real court process with a real judgment.
The single most important concept, and the one with no equivalent in the common law provinces.
The family patrimony (patrimoine familial) is a defined core of property that is divided equally on legal separation, divorce or dissolution of a civil union — regardless of which spouse owns it.
What it contains, per the Québec government: property belonging to you and your spouse used by the family — the family residences (for a multi-unit property, only the portion actually occupied by the family counts), furniture, vehicles used for family travel — and, notably, "all earnings registered during the marriage or civil union under the Québec Pension Plan equivalent programs, such as the Canada Pension Plan."
How it is divided: "each get[s] an equal share of the monetary value of the property, without necessarily dividing the property itself." Partition happens by "a transfer of money" or "a transfer of property of equal value to the amount owed to the other spouse."
The valuation sequence is set out plainly: calculate the market value of the family patrimony property; deduct debts and the value of property brought into the marriage to arrive at the net value; divide the net value equally.
It is not absolute. A judge may refuse equal partition where it would create an injustice, having regard to "the short length of the marriage or civil union; the dilapidation of property by either spouse; the bad faith of either spouse." And "in some circumstances, it is possible for the spouses to renounce their rights in the family patrimony."
Verification note. The circumstances in which family patrimony rights may be renounced, and the formalities required, were not verified for this guide. This is exactly the sort of question to put to a Quebec notary or lawyer rather than to a web page.
Here is where people from other provinces get confused. Quebec has two property systems operating at once.
The family patrimony covers the defined core above. Everything else is governed by your matrimonial regime — the default being the partnership of acquests, with separation as to property available by marriage contract.
Éducaloi puts the relationship between the two plainly: "The law provides a list of property included in the family patrimony. If your property is not mentioned in this list, then it is not considered family property," and "your matrimonial regime determines what happens to property not included in the family patrimony."
So a Quebec property settlement is a two-stage exercise: partition the family patrimony first, then liquidate the matrimonial regime. Advice that treats property division as one calculation is advice from somewhere else.
notaire pour divorce is one of the most searched Quebec family law terms, and the reason is a genuine procedural advantage that exists nowhere else in Canada.
In Quebec a notary is a legal professional, not merely a witness to signatures, and the Chambre des notaires describes a notary as able to accompany you "through several stages, including the establishment of alimony and child custody and the preparation of a draft agreement."
The significant part: since February 2017, a notary may represent spouses before the court in an amicable divorce, where the spouses have been separated for over a year and agree on all terms. The notary "will submit the application to the court, which will save you from appearing in court."
Notaries can also act as family mediators.
The limit is important. The notary acts for the situation, not for one side against the other, and "in the event of disputes between the parties, the notary will have to cease involvement in the case." If your matter becomes contested, the notary route closes and you need your own lawyer.
That is the trade. For genuinely amicable, fully agreed separations, it is faster and generally cheaper. It is not a substitute for independent advice where anything is in dispute — and if you are reading this site because letters are arriving, you are probably already past it.
Quebec has long been the outlier, and this is the single most consequential thing for unmarried couples to know.
A de facto union — two people living together publicly as a couple, not married or in a civil union — "do[es] not afford the same legal protections as those offered by marriage or civil union." On breakdown, each partner keeps their own property unless they have a cohabitation or separation agreement.
No family patrimony. No matrimonial regime. No spousal support entitlement of the kind married spouses have.
Children are unaffected: "children of de facto partners have equal rights regardless of parental marital status," and child support obligations are the same.
This is the most significant recent change in Quebec family law and most material online predates it.
A parental union is "a new regime applicable to de facto spouses." It forms automatically where unmarried partners become the parents of a common child born on or after 30 June 2025, live together, and present themselves publicly as a couple.
It creates a parental union patrimony, which includes "family residences, furniture, and cars used for family travel."
Parents of children born before 30 June 2025 are not automatically covered, but may opt in voluntarily — "through notarial act or written contract with two witnesses."
Verification note. Whether and how an automatically-formed parental union can be modified or opted out of was not confirmed for this guide, nor were the details of how the parental union patrimony is divided. This regime is new and material about it is still thin. Take advice rather than relying on any web page, including this one.
If you have read that Canadian child support runs on the Federal Child Support Guidelines, that is not the position in Quebec.
Quebec uses the Québec model for the determination of child support payments, which "has specified the rules used to calculate child support payments when two parents separate or divorce." It takes account of "the income of both parents, the number of children, the custody arrangements and certain additional expenses to meet a child's specific needs."
Two documents are central: the Child Support Determination Form, which parents complete jointly or separately regardless of whether they already agree on an amount, and the Statement Required under Article 444 of the Code of Civil Procedure setting out each parent's situation.
Verification note. The precise circumstances in which the Québec model applies rather than the Federal Guidelines — which can turn on where each parent resides — were not verified here. Ask a Quebec lawyer or notary.
Do not import advice from Ontario or Alberta. The vocabulary overlaps and the substance does not. "Separation agreement", "legal separation" and "property division" all mean something specific and different here.
Work out which layer each asset sits in — family patrimony or matrimonial regime. That determines almost everything about how it is treated.
If you are a de facto spouse, find out where you stand, and whether the parental union regime applies to you. The answer may be that you have far fewer rights than you assumed, or — if your child was born on or after 30 June 2025 — considerably more.
Consider whether the notary route is still open. If everything is genuinely agreed and you have been separated over a year, it is faster and cheaper. If anything is contested, it is not available.
Verification note. The circumstances in which family patrimony rights may be renounced, and the formalities required, were not verified for this guide. This is exactly the sort of question to put to a Quebec notary or lawyer rather than to a web page.
Verification note. Whether and how an automatically-formed parental union can be modified or opted out of was not confirmed for this guide, nor were the details of how the parental union patrimony is divided. This regime is new and material about it is still thin. Take advice rather than relying on any web page, including this one.
Verification note. The precise circumstances in which the Québec model applies rather than the Federal Guidelines — which can turn on where each parent resides — were not verified here. Ask a Quebec lawyer or notary.
Verification notes. No Civil Code of Québec article numbers are cited in this guide — none appeared in the government sources used, and we have not guessed at them. Four points are expressly unverified and flagged in place: the formalities for renouncing family patrimony rights; whether an automatic parental union can be modified or opted out of, and how the parental union patrimony is divided; when the Québec model applies rather than the Federal Child Support Guidelines; and the detailed operation of matrimonial regimes, which is only sketched here. The parental union regime is new and authoritative material about it remains limited. Treat this section as orientation and take advice.
No. Legal separation — separation from bed and board — requires a Superior Court judgment and frees spouses from the obligation to live together, but "unlike divorce, legal separation does not terminate the marriage." You remain married and cannot remarry.
Since February 2017, a notary can represent spouses in an amicable divorce where they have been separated over a year and agree on all terms, and can file the application so that you do not appear in court. If a dispute arises, the notary must cease acting.
The family patrimony is mandatory in character, though the government notes that "in some circumstances, it is possible for the spouses to renounce their rights in the family patrimony." The circumstances and formalities are technical — ask a notary or lawyer rather than assuming.
If you are de facto spouses and no parental union applies, historically the answer is that each of you keeps your own property. Whether the parental union regime applies depends on whether you have a common child born on or after 30 June 2025, or have opted in. This is worth confirming rather than assuming, in either direction.
Earnings registered during the marriage or civil union under the Québec Pension Plan and equivalent programs such as the Canada Pension Plan form part of the family patrimony. How that is implemented is a technical question for your notary or lawyer.
Spousal support arises under federal law on divorce, and the Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines are advisory across Canada. Child support in Quebec runs on the Québec model rather than the Federal Guidelines. The interaction between the two is a question for a Quebec professional.
Last reviewed August 2026. Researched and written by Neta, founder of SortMyDivorce. I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice — laws, fees and forms change, so please confirm current details with the official sources above or a local family lawyer.
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