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The Matrimonial Property Act: A Case Law Review


The Alberta Law Reform Institute proposed the legislation that became the Matrimonial Property Act (MPA) more than 30 years ago and there has been no substantive amendment to the MPA since then. ALRI has received suggestions that the legislation is in need of revision but there was little consensus as to which areas were in need of review. In order to advance the research, ALRI financed the work of Annie Voss-Altman, a student at the […]

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FILE RP-MPA-Case-Law.pdf

October 8, 2010

Limitations Act – Adverse Possession and Lasting Improvements, Final Report 89


This report considers the effect of the Limitations Act on the areas of adverse possession and lasting improvements under the Law of Property Act. In considering how best to resolve disputes regarding the ownership and use of land, this report looks to the objectives of protecting future ownership of land, ensuring land’s transferability, and preventing the revival of stale claims. Recommendations to avoid the effect of claims being postponed by a continuing course of conduct include to subject […]

AREA OF LAW Limitation of Actions Procedure Property Real Property
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May 29, 2003

Division of Matrimonial Property on Death, Final Report 83


This report addresses the underlying conflict between the principles of matrimonial property law and succession law that causes unfair results for a surviving spouse who under the existing law does not have a cause of action under the Matrimonial Property Act. The surviving spouse of a marriage terminated by death should not have fewer remedies than the spouse in a marriage terminated by divorce. The contribution of a spouse to a marriage should be recognized either […]

AREA OF LAW Wills and Succession Family Law
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May 29, 2000

Family Law v. 18.4–Child Guardianship, Custody and Access, Report for Discussion 18.4


As addressed in the other reports in this series, Alberta law relating to the care of children (at the time of this report’s publication) included a variety of statutory provisions that were out-dated, inconsistent, and/or had uncertain scope. For this reason, this report begins from a “clean slate” in trying to define (i) child guardianship, (ii) custody, and (iii) access, and to determine how these issues can be decided in order to protect the best […]

AREA OF LAW Children Family Law Marriage & Divorce
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FILE rfd18.4.pdf

October 2, 1998

Division of Matrimonial Property on Death, Report for Discussion 17


At the time of publication, there was a contradiction in the law of Alberta regarding marital property. If a marriage dissolved, each spouse would be presumed to have contributed equally to the marriage (barring evidence to the contrary), and therefore to be entitled to an even share of the marital property, regardless of the name on title. On the other hand, if one spouse died before the other, he or she would have complete freedom […]

AREA OF LAW Family Law Marriage & Divorce
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March 2, 1998

Beneficiary Designations: RRSPs, RRIFs and Section 47 of the Trustee Act, Final Report 68


This report examines the issue whether section 47 of the Trustee Act ought to apply to RRSPs and RRIFs. It describes the scope and history of this project, looks at the existing law, and concludes that section 47 probably applies to RRSPs, even though its definition of “plan” does not mention them by name. The report also explores the fact that RRIFs as a type of “plan” within the meaning of section 47 is more doubtful. Arguments […]

AREA OF LAW Wills and Succession Family Law
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September 29, 1993

Section 195 of the Land Titles Act, Final Report 63


This report recommends that section 195 of the Land Titles Act be amended so that purchasers may rely on the Land Titles Office register. The amended section should make it clear that actual or constructive notice of an off-register interest does not affect a non-fraudulent purchaser who acquires an interest from the registered or caveated owner of the interest. This report contains a draft of an amended section 195. Section 195 protects the purchaser against finding that […]

AREA OF LAW Property Real Property
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February 1, 1993

Report on Liens, Report for Discussion 13


A lien is an interest in property, similar to a security interest, which enables a creditor to retain (usually) or seize (occasionally) property belonging to a debtor. The rules governing liens in Alberta (at the time of publication) were widely varied, and controlled by a number of different statutes. This report suggests the creation of a unified Liens Act which would resolve problems such as the registration of liens, the priority of different interests on […]

AREA OF LAW Constitutional and Public Law Corporate and Commercial
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September 2, 1992

Division of Canada Pension Plan Credits in Alberta, Final Report 58


The Canada Pension Plan Act, RSC 1985, c C-8, as amended in 1987, allowed that on the appropriate minister being informed of a divorce, the total Canada Pension Plan (“CPP”) credits accumulated by both spouses through the course of the marriage would be split evenly between both ex-spouses. These amendments reflected a desire to protect women who, because of their unpaid contributions within the home, had historically suffered greater poverty in retirement than men. However, […]

AREA OF LAW Family Law Marriage & Divorce
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November 1, 1990

Section 16 of the Matrimonial Property Act, Final Report 57


Section 16 of the Matrimonial Property Act, RSA 1980, c M-9, stated that the rights of a person who started a property action against a spouse did not survive that person’s death, and thus the action could not be continued by his or her estate. This was based on the legal policy that matrimonial property should be available for the use of a surviving spouse. This report notes that, in practice, this section led to […]

AREA OF LAW Family Law Marriage & Divorce
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ENACTMENT

Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act, 1991, SA 1991, c 21, s 24 amending the Matrimonial Property Act (now RSA 2000, c M-8, s 16).

March 1, 1990

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