Murdoch v. Murdoch and Family Property Law in Canada
Certain cases often become the catalyst for significant legal changes, as the case of Murdoch v. Murdoch illustrates (from http://section15.ca/features/reviews/2006/07/07/murdoch/ ).
Irene Murdoch was the wife of an Alberta rancher. On the breakdown of her marriage in 1968, Mrs. Murdoch sought a share in the ranch property held solely in her husband's name. Her claim was based on her contribution to the building up of assets and the running of the ranch during 25 years of marriage.
At the trial, Murdoch answered the following questions concerning her activities in the ranch business:
Q: Could you tell the court, as briefly as you can, the nature of the work you did?
A: Haying, raking, swathing, moving, driving trucks and tractors and teams, quieting horses, taking cattle back and forth to the reserve, dehorning, vaccination, branding, anything that was to be done. I worked outside with him, just as a man would, anything that was to be done.
Q: Was your husband away from these properties?
A: Yes, for five months every year.
In spite of this enormous contribution to the running of the ranch, the trial judge found that Murdoch had done the work of "any ranch wife" and as such, this did not justify a share in the property.
In 1973 the Supreme Court of Canada heard the case on an appeal from the Alberta courts. It denied Mrs. Murdoch's claim yet again, on the grounds that her contribution was "no more than that of any other wife".
However, in 1974, before their divorce was granted, Mr. Murdoch transferred the ownership of the ranch to his son, in order to put this property beyond the reach of his wife. This time, the Supreme Court held that this was done to defraud his wife's claim and finally, the Supreme Court ruled in Mrs. Murdoch's favour. Their assets were valued at $200,000. The Court ordered that Mr. Murdoch pay Mrs. Murdoch a lump sum for maintenance of $65,000.
This case started a whole new debate on family law reform.
The Murdoch case sparked a strong negative reaction across Canada. People felt there was something wrong with a law that would give a husband everything both spouses had worked for all their lives simply because he alone had earned wages and had registered property in his name.
In response to this negative reaction, in the years that followed each province passed legislation establishing fairer methods of dividing married people's property upon separation or divorce. In Alberta, the statute that was passed is the Matrimonial Property Act . This means, in effect, that while spouses can own property separately while married, now if the marriage fails and the couple cannot agree on who gets what on their own, the courts will do their best to divide things up fairly.
The legislation states that property acquired by the spouses during their marriage (non-matrimonial property) is to be divided equally, regardless of who paid for it or whose name it is registered in. On the other hand, property owned by the husband and wife before they got married is not considered matrimonial property and the spouses can each keep their own.
There are a few other types of property that are not considered matrimonial property, as well. For instance, if one spouse, while married, gets an inheritance from a relative, he or she can keep possession of it. The same is true of gifts.
While the Matrimonial Property Act stipulates that in principle matrimonial property is to be divided up equally, judges are allowed some discretion to give one spouse or the other a greater share if the circumstances seem to warrant it. The legislation lays out a number of factors for judges to consider in deciding precisely how much each spouse is to receive. Some of the important ones are as follows:
- the contribution each spouse has made to the marriage; including work as a homemaker, parent, and so on;
- the contribution each spouse has made to any businesses operated by the family;
- the contribution each spouse has made to acquiring or improving their property;
- the financial resources of the spouses;
- the length of the marriage;
- any agreement the couple has arrived at about how they want to divide their property (you will be looking more closely at this one soon);
- any gifts a spouse made to a third party (such as a friend or relative) in order to protect his or her property; and
- any other relevant circumstances.