Family Patrimony, De Facto Spouses and Life Insurance in Québec

Julie and Patrick have been living together for eighteen years. The house is in Patrick's name, because he was the one with the down payment in 2008. Julie has paid half the mortgage the whole time, cut back her hours for six years for the children, and never doubted that the house was "theirs."

Legally, the house is Patrick's. And if Patrick dies tomorrow without a will, Julie receives none of it: she is not a co-owner, not an heir, and not protected by the family patrimony.

This is not an accidental injustice. It is the direct result of three distinct regimes in Québec law that, together, decide the fate of what a couple has built. Knowing them changes the decisions you make.

The family patrimony: reserved for marriage and civil union

Article 414 of the Civil Code of Québec is clear enough to settle the question: "Marriage entails the establishment of a family patrimony." It is marriage — or civil union — that triggers this regime. Nothing else.

Article 415 sets out the list, and it is a broad one: the residences of the family or the rights that confer use of them, the movable property with which they are furnished and which serves for the use of the household, the motor vehicles used for family travel, and the benefits accrued during the marriage under a retirement plan. Added to that are the earnings registered in the name of each spouse under the Act respecting the Québec Pension Plan (QPP).

Two exclusions matter a great deal. The same article excludes property devolved to one of the spouses by succession or gift, before or during the marriage: the inheritance you received from your mother does not become shared. And article 415 specifically provides that where the dissolution of the marriage results from death, the earnings registered under the Québec Pension Plan are excluded, as are the benefits accrued under a retirement plan governed by an Act that already grants the surviving spouse a right to death benefits.

The decisive point: the law never speaks of a length of cohabitation. It speaks of marriage. Eighteen years of living together establishes no family patrimony at all.

At death, the division comes before the estate

This is the step most often skipped when reading the fractions of legal devolution — intestate succession.

Article 416 provides that in the event of dissolution of the marriage, the value of the family patrimony, after deducting the debts contracted for the acquisition, improvement, maintenance or preservation of the property comprising it, is divided equally between the spouses — or, as the text specifies, "between the surviving spouse and the heirs." Death dissolves the marriage: the division therefore takes place.

Article 417 adds that the net value of the family patrimony is established as of the date of the spouse's death, with the property valued at its market value.

The order of operations is therefore as follows: the family patrimony is divided first, the matrimonial regime is liquidated next, and only what is left becomes the estate to be divided according to the will or legal devolution. What the surviving spouse receives on that first basis is not an inheritance: it is their share of a patrimony that was already shared.

There is some flexibility, but it is framed. Under article 423, spouses may not renounce their rights in the family patrimony by marriage contract. A spouse may, however, renounce them from the death of their spouse, by notarial act en minute. The renunciation must be registered in the register of personal and movable real rights, and failing registration within one year from the day the right to partition arose, the renouncing spouse is deemed to have accepted.

The parental union: a new regime, and a narrower one

Since June 30, 2025, a third regime exists. Article 521.20 of the Civil Code states that "a parental union is formed as soon as de facto spouses become the father and mother or the parents of the same child."

According to Éducaloi, two conditions must be met: having had or adopted at least one child since June 30, 2025, and living together. The regime then applies automatically. Again according to Éducaloi, couples who are already parents of a shared child born before that date only enter it on the birth or adoption of a subsequent child; the Government of Québec indicates that they may opt in voluntarily, by mutual agreement.

Article 521.29 provides that the parental union entails the establishment of a parental union patrimony. But article 521.30 gives it a distinctly shorter composition than the family patrimony: the residences of the family or the rights that confer use of them, the movable property with which they are furnished and which serves for the use of the household, and the motor vehicles used for family travel. As with the family patrimony, property received by succession or gift before or during the union is excluded.

	Family patrimony	Parental union patrimony
Who is covered	Married spouses and spouses in a civil union	De facto spouses who became parents of the same child since June 30, 2025
Residences of the family	Included	Included
Household furnishings	Included	Included
Family vehicles	Included	Included
Benefits accrued under a retirement plan	Included	Not mentioned in article 521.30
Earnings registered under the Québec Pension Plan	Included, except in the event of death	Not mentioned in article 521.30
Civil Code article	415	521.30

The difference is not cosmetic. A pension fund built up over ten years of living together does not form part of the parental union patrimony, whereas it would form part of the family patrimony of a married couple. Article 521.31 does, however, allow spouses to change the composition of their patrimony during the union.

Article 521.22 finally specifies that the parental union ends on the death of one of the spouses, on the cessation of living together, or on marriage or civil union.

And other de facto spouses?

For couples who fall into none of these regimes — not married, not in a civil union, no shared child born since June 30, 2025 — Québec law has stayed the same. There is no automatic shared patrimony, and no right to inherit without a will.

What remains is what the couple organized themselves: co-ownership of a property recorded on the title, a cohabitation agreement, a will, and beneficiary designations. These tools work perfectly well. They simply require you to deal with them during your lifetime.

Life insurance: what cuts across all these regimes

This is where life insurance occupies a particular place in Québec law, independently of any conjugal status.

Article 2455 of the Civil Code is unambiguous: "The sum insured payable to a beneficiary does not form part of the succession of the insured." The insurer pays the designated person directly. That amount does not enter into the division of the estate, does not wait for the probate of the will or the tax certificates, and in principle is beyond the reach of the estate's creditors.

It is the only mechanism that allows money to reach a person that legal devolution ignores, without depending on a will that could be contested or never found.

Article 2456 covers the opposite case: insurance payable "to the succession," "to the heirs" or "to the assigns" forms part of the estate, and then follows all of its delays and all of its debts.

One point of vocabulary is worth reading closely. Article 2457 makes the rights conferred by the contract exempt from seizure "where the designated beneficiary of the insurance is the married or civil union spouse, descendant or ascendant of the policyholder or participant," so long as the beneficiary has not received the sum insured. The de facto spouse does not appear in that list. The amount remains outside the estate under article 2455, but the exemption from seizure in article 2457 is not granted to them by that text. For a specific situation, the question is worth putting to a notary.

The trap: designating your spouse is irrevocable by default

Here is the provision that surprises the most people, and it is triggered by a simple form.

Article 2449 of the Civil Code provides that "the designation as beneficiary of the person to whom the policyholder or participant is married or in a civil union, made in a document other than a will, is irrevocable unless otherwise stipulated." The same article adds that the designation of any other person is revocable, unless otherwise stipulated.

In other words, in Québec the rule flips as soon as a married spouse or a spouse in a civil union is involved. If you write your spouse's name on the designation form without writing "revocable," you will not be able to change that designation without their consent. Éducaloi confirms this reading: a change requires the beneficiary's agreement where the contract indicates that the designation is irrevocable, or where the current beneficiary is your married spouse or spouse in a civil union, unless the designation is revocable.

Article 2458 sets out the effect: the stipulation of irrevocability binds the policyholder even if the beneficiary is unaware of it, and so long as it remains in force, the rights conferred by the contract are exempt from seizure.

There is a release valve, and it is worth knowing. Éducaloi indicates that divorce or the dissolution of a civil union automatically cancels the designation of the spouse as beneficiary, even an irrevocable one. A de facto separation, by contrast, does not have that effect.

The contrast with the de facto spouse is striking. Their designation is revocable by default — you can change it without asking anyone. They do not inherit without a will. And they are not named in article 2457. Three distinct rules, three different results, for two couples that nothing distinguishes in everyday life.

Frequently asked questions

After how many years of living together does the family patrimony apply?

Never by the passage of time alone. Article 414 attaches the family patrimony to marriage. Since June 30, 2025, a parental union patrimony, narrower in scope, applies to de facto spouses who became parents of the same child since that date.

The house is in one spouse's name. Does that change anything?

For a married couple, no: article 414 specifies that the family patrimony is made up of certain property "regardless of which of them holds a right of ownership." For a couple of de facto spouses outside a parental union, the title of ownership determines everything.

Can you name your de facto spouse as a life insurance beneficiary?

Yes. Nothing requires a marital tie to designate a beneficiary. That designation is revocable by default under article 2449, unlike that of a married spouse or a spouse in a civil union.

I designated my spouse twenty years ago. Can I change it?

If the designation is irrevocable — which is the default rule under article 2449 for a married spouse or a spouse in a civil union — you need their consent. Check the exact wording of your contract with your insurer, and speak to a notary if the situation is delicate.

Should designations be redone after a separation?

It is the moment to review everything: will, insurance, RRSPs, RRIFs, group plans. These designations live outside the will and do not update themselves. Éducaloi specifies that only divorce and the dissolution of a civil union automatically cancel the designation of the spouse.

Sources

• Civil Code of Québec, articles 414, 415, 416, 417, 423, 521.20, 521.22, 521.29, 521.30, 521.31, 2449, 2455, 2456, 2457 and 2458, version current to April 1, 2026: https://www.legisquebec.gouv.qc.ca/fr/document/lc/CCQ-1991 (accessed August 10, 2026)
• Éducaloi, "L'assurance-vie": https://educaloi.qc.ca/capsules/lassurance-vie/ (accessed August 10, 2026)
• Éducaloi, "Être en union parentale": https://educaloi.qc.ca/capsules/etre-en-union-parentale/ (accessed August 10, 2026)
• Éducaloi, "Le partage du patrimoine familial": https://educaloi.qc.ca/capsules/le-partage-du-patrimoine-familial/ (accessed August 10, 2026)
• Éducaloi, "Planifier sa succession : quelques stratégies pour réduire ou retarder l'impôt": https://educaloi.qc.ca/capsules/planifier-sa-succession-quelques-strategies-pour-reduire-ou-retarder-limpot/ (accessed August 10, 2026)
• Government of Québec, "L'union parentale : une protection pour les enfants et toute la famille": https://www.quebec.ca/famille-et-soutien-aux-personnes/mariage-union/union-parentale/a-propos (accessed August 10, 2026)

This text presents general information about Québec law. It is not legal advice or insurance advice. For your own situation, consult a notary.