Can one spouse sell the family home alone?

Usually no. In a marriage, a civil union or a parental union, the family residence is protected. Consent, or a judgment, is required even when one name is on the title. A de facto couple outside those regimes follows the title and any contract between them.

Does a parental union include RRSPs?

No. The parental-union patrimony is the residences, the household furniture and the family vehicles. Retirement plans are part of the family patrimony of a marriage, not of the parental union. Gifts and inheritances are excluded from both in the way the Code states.

We are de facto and our child was born before 30 June 2025. Are we in a parental union?

The regime applies to de facto spouses who become parents of a common child on or after that date, unless they opt out. A child born before that date does not, by itself, create the regime. Confirm your own dates with a lawyer or a notary. This page is not that confirmation.

Will a direct sale decide how we split the money?

No. It can close on a date you both can live with, if you are both allowed to sell. The split is the agreement, the judgment, or the title. The notary follows that. Bruce does not replace the court.

Do we have to empty the house while we negotiate?

No. If you sell to Bruce, you can leave what you do not want. You still both have to be ready to sign if the law says both signatures are required.

Divorce or separation

Sell a house during a divorce or separation

In shortA house can be sold during a separation only by the people who are allowed to sign. In a marriage, a civil union or a parental union, the family residence usually needs the other person’s consent. A direct offer does not replace that consent.

A house in the middle of a separation is a hard place to hold open houses. People want a date, a single conversation, and an end to walking strangers through rooms they are already leaving. Bruce can be that buyer. The law about who must consent is not something this page can settle. Married spouses, civil-union spouses, de facto spouses and parental unions are not the same situation in Quebec.

Marriage and civil union

Spouses who are married or in a civil union have a family patrimony. It includes the family residences, the furniture in them that the household uses, the vehicles used for the family, and the value of retirement plans built up during the union. That value is generally shared equally. A court can depart from an equal split in situations the Civil Code describes. This page will not tell you which departure applies to you.

The family residence is also protected while you are together and for a time around the breakup. One spouse cannot sell it, or hypothecate it, without the other’s consent, even if only one name is on the title. A direct offer does not dodge that consent. If both of you must sign, both of you must want the sale, or a judgment has to say otherwise. Bruce talks to the people the notary will actually put in the deed.

De facto spouses, and the parental union since 30 June 2025

De facto spouses do not have a family patrimony. Being together for years, or having children born before the new regime, does not by itself give each person half the house. Ownership follows the title, plus whatever contract you signed, plus claims a court might hear. Do not treat a long relationship as a marriage for this purpose. A notary or a family lawyer reads your facts.

Since 30 June 2025, de facto spouses who become the parents of a common child form a parental union automatically, unless they have opted out. The parental-union patrimony includes the family residences, the household furniture used by the family, and the vehicles used for the family. It does not include retirement plans, and it excludes property received by gift or succession. While the union lasts, and for 120 days after a separation, the family residence cannot be sold or hypothecated without the other person’s consent, even if only one person is on title. If you live in one unit of a plex, only the portion the family uses is in that patrimony. The rest of the building is not automatically shared.

What a direct sale changes, and what it does not

It removes the showings, the sign, the commission and the inspection. It lets two people, if they both have to sign, aim at one date and leave the contents they are fighting over instead of staging them. It does not decide who gets the proceeds. The notary pays the hypothec if the price covers it, adjusts the taxes, and pays the balance as the deed and any judgment or agreement instruct. If you do not yet have that instruction, the cheque cannot be invented on the sidewalk.

Sending the address starts a conversation. It does not commit either person. If only one of you is writing, say so. Bruce will not treat one signature as two.

Questions people ask

Seller questions

Keep reading

This is general information about how a sale usually works in Quebec. It is not legal, tax or financial advice, and it is not a promise about your price or your date. A notary — and, if your file needs it, a lawyer or a licensed insolvency trustee — applies the rules to your situation. Sending an address does not commit you to sell.