ellorie Posted June 6, 2011 Report Share Posted June 6, 2011 I'm filling out the application online, and it says that if I have lived with someone in a "conjugal relationship" for a year, we are common law spouses even if we have no children. I have lived with my girlfriend for 11 months (since July 1st 2010) - is this close enough to the line that I have to say that I have a common law partner? How much will her income reduce my loans? She is well below the poverty line, but I know that they'll pretty much use any excuse they can get to lower your aid. I was under the impression that to have a commonlaw partner in Alberta, you needed to live together for 3 years or have dependent children. We are certainly not considered common law in Quebec, where we live. I would really prefer to leave my gf out of this, since we're going to be going long distance anyway and God knows what's going to happen with that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hking03 Posted June 6, 2011 Report Share Posted June 6, 2011 I'm filling out the application online, and it says that if I have lived with someone in a "conjugal relationship" for a year, we are common law spouses even if we have no children. I have lived with my girlfriend for 11 months (since July 1st 2010) - is this close enough to the line that I have to say that I have a common law partner? How much will her income reduce my loans? She is well below the poverty line, but I know that they'll pretty much use any excuse they can get to lower your aid. I was under the impression that to have a commonlaw partner in Alberta, you needed to live together for 3 years or have dependent children. We are certainly not considered common law in Quebec, where we live. I would really prefer to leave my gf out of this, since we're going to be going long distance anyway and God knows what's going to happen with that. I'd call the alberta student loans customer service for clarification, but if you aren't at a full 12 months then you should be ok to say you do not have a common law partner. However, make sure you keep track and if you do live together for a year you will have to put it down. If you are going long distance for school you should be ok for the common-law issue as you technically won't be living together for a 12 month period. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astrogirl Posted June 6, 2011 Report Share Posted June 6, 2011 That is strange, because before my brother and his wife got married, I think they had to fill out some kind of registration form at one point before the government would consider them common law partners and they had lived together for about 4 years at the time. Maybe the law has changed recently or maybe the student loans people have their own rules about things? I don't have any helpful answers for you, but that really doesn't seem right. But I do think it's okay if you say you don't have a common law partner since it hasn't been 12 months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ellorie Posted June 7, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2011 In case anyone is interested, they told me to fill it out as if it were the first day of my study period, so since GF and I will no longer be living together then, I did not have to enter her information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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