Finally, some good news! On June 8, a new Quebec law, An Act respecting family law reform with regard to filiation and amending the Civil Code in relation to personality rights and civil status was passed by the Quebec National Assembly.
Why tell you about it? Because this Act, which has just passed the final stage of its coming into force, seeks to significantly reform family law, and concerns all Quebecers. Considering how our societies are evolving, this reform was eagerly awaited and its new provisions will be implemented over the next two years.
This is only the beginning!
Note, however, that the new provisions mentioned in this article have to do with the aspect of the reform concerning filiation as well as personality rights and civil status, but that another component is to come, which will focus on conjugality, i.e. the rights and obligations between spouses and de facto spouses. The famous Eric v. Lola case concerning de facto spouses before the Supreme Court of Canada had the effect of forcing the legal authorities to reconsider several aspects of conjugality and, once again, to rethink and review legislation so that it reflects current societal changes.
Here are some of the provisions which are coming into force and which you can familiarize yourself with now, because they could directly affect you, at one stage or another in your life.
How many given names for your child?
On the birth certificate, parents will now have to give a maximum of four given names to identify their child. Of these four given names, they will have to choose only one which will be used to identify the child and which the child will use to exercise his or her civil rights. (Article 50 C.C.Q.)
Non-gender identifiers on civil status documents?
- “Non-binary” identifier”
An article will be added to the Civil Code of Québec (article 70.1 C.C.Q.) providing that the identifiers “male,” “female” or “non-binary” will appear on birth and death certificates to identify the sex of each person. These will be represented by the letter symbols “M”, “F” or “X”.
- Name for the family relationship
To take into account the different realities of sex and gender, the Civil Code of Québec will also add a third name for the bond of filiation. In addition to the usual terms “father” and “mother,” the new non-gender term “parent” will be available to characterize this bond.
Bonds of filiation to be determined?
- Assisted procreation
According to the provisions of the new Act, the court may establish the filiation of a child born as a result of assisted procreation which takes place after the death of one of the parents. (Article 535.2 C.C.Q)
- De facto spouses
The Act also includes a presumption of paternity for any child born during a de facto union, or within 300 days after the dissolution of the de facto union. (Article 114 C.C.Q.) This presumption previously existed only for persons who were married or in a civil union. The Act now extends it to all de facto spouses, thus officially recognizing the filiation rights of all children born of these unions.
A minor child needs legal aid?
Legal aid will now be available free of charge to a minor child. This aid will be available to the minor child regardless of his or her financial eligibility.
Your are co-holder of an account with your spouse?
According to the Act respecting remittance of deposits of money to account co-holders who are spouses or former spouses, the financial institution must, upon the death of one of the spouses, remit to the surviving co-holder his or her share of the balance of such an account. This means that in the event of death, the joint account can no longer be entirely frozen. This provision will alleviate the financial stress caused by the death of a spouse to the surviving person who does not have access to other liquid assets.
Note that this Act will come into force on December 8 and that the Civil Code will be amended to specify that this remittance to the co-holder of the account does not mean that the surviving spouse accepts the succession. (Article 643.1 C.C.Q.)
It should be mentioned that the change does not currently apply in cases of incapacity, which will continue to pose certain problems for persons affected by such a situation.
In conclusion
If you would like more details on the points mentioned, don’t hesitate to contact your advisor, who has access to the expertise of our notaries and who can help you find the answer you’re looking for.
Anik Bellemare, LL.B., D.D.N.
Notary
[1] According to the Règlement relatif à l’ajout d’une mention de l’identité de genre au changement de certaines qualités de l’état civil et à la substitution du prénom usuel.
