Civil unions in Quebec are available in

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

to both opposite-sex and same-sex couples, which attempts to create the same rights for the partners as a traditional

marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...

. As a result of a range of activism and to the ''

M. v. H. ''M v H''

999 999 or triple nine most often refers to: * 999 (emergency telephone number), a telephone number for the emergency services in several countries * 999 (number), an integer * AD 999, a year * 999 BC, a year Books * ''999'' (anthology) or ''999: ...

2 S.C.R. 3, is a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of Canada on the rights of same-sex couples to equal treatment under the Constitution of Canada. Background ''M v H'' was on the appeal of a case originally brought by a ...

'' decision, the

National Assembly of Quebec The National Assembly of Quebec (officially in french: link=no, Assemblée nationale du Québec) is the legislative body of the province of Quebec in Canada. Legislators are called MNAs (Members of the National Assembly; french: link=no, déput ...

voted unanimously in 2002 to amend the

Civil Code of Quebec The ''Civil Code of Quebec'' (CCQ, french: Code civil du Québec) is the civil code in force in the Canadian province of Quebec, which came into effect on January 1, 1994. It replaced the ''Civil Code of Lower Canada'' (french: Code civil du Bas- ...

to create a status of civil union in Quebec, available to both opposite-sex and same-sex couples and largely having the same rights as

. The law was enacted on June 24, 2002.Civil Code of Quebec - Book 2: 'The Family', Title One.1, arts. 521.1 to 521.19 A civil union is contracted into by same-sex or opposite-sex partners 18 years of age and older, who are not otherwise married, not in another civil union, or who are not closely related, following prescribed formalities similar to the regime of marriage. The civil union carries

obligation An obligation is a course of action that someone is required to take, whether legal or moral. Obligations are constraints; they limit freedom. People who are under obligations may choose to freely act under obligations. Obligation exists when the ...

s and benefits equivalent to that of marriage including the obligation of support (CCQ art. 585) and the establishment of a family patrimony and

family residence Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Ideall ...

(CCQ art. 521.6) and may otherwise be modified by a

contract A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tran ...

(CCQ 521.8) similar to a

pre-nuptial agreement A prenuptial agreement, antenuptial agreement, or premarital agreement (commonly referred to as a prenup), is a written contract entered into by a couple prior to marriage or a civil union that enables them to select and control many of the leg ...

and may agree to a particular property regime similar to available

matrimonial regime Matrimonial regimes, or marital property systems, are systems of property ownership between spouses providing for the creation or absence of a marital estate (land), estate and if created, what properties are included in that estate, how and by wh ...

s. It creates a family connection between the spouses and their relatives (CCQ art. 521.7). Judicial conciliation is merited "when the spouses cannot agree on their rights and performance of their duties" (CCQ art. 521.9). Such union may be annulled within three years if irregularly contracted (CCQ arts. 521.10-521.11). A civil union ends at death of one of the partners or may be dissolved by judicial dissolution or by a 'transaction agreement' and 'joint declaration' before a

civil law notary Civil-law notaries, or Latin notaries, are lawyers of noncontentious private civil law who draft, take, and record legal instruments for private parties, provide legal advice and give attendance in person, and are vested as public officers wit ...

and recorded ''en minute'' if both partners consent and they settle all the consequences of the dissolution (CCQ arts. 521.13-521.16). Judicial dissolution is merited when "the interests of the common children of the spouses are at stake" or where the parties cannot otherwise agree (CCQ art. 521.17 para. 1). Provisional orders of support, custody and access may be entered during the pendency of the dissolution action (CCQ art. 521.71 para. 2) and the court may, upon or after pronouncing dissolution decide maintenance, custody and education issues in the

best interests Best interests or best interests of the child is a child rights principle, which derives from Article 3 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which says that “in all actions concerning children, whether undertaken by public or private ...

of and with due regard to the rights of the children (CCQ art. 521.17, para. 3). The act establishing the regime of civil union also modified rules creating filiation for biological children of one of the partners, and for adopted children as well as the recognition of parental authority and child support obligations so they will apply to civil union couples as well as married couples. In March 2004, Quebec same-sex couples won the right to marry. Today, couples (both opposite- and same-sex) can choose between civil marriage and civil unions.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Article on M v. H. (1999)
!-- Broken 20110712 --> Politics of Quebec Quebec law Marriage, unions and partnerships in Canada

See also

References

External links