A Quebec Superior Court Judge has ruled that a Quebec multi-millionaire wouldn't have been able to make his money if it weren't for his former common-law partner, so she's been awarded 20 per cent.
The case involves a couple that spent 16 years together and has two children. At the start of the relationship, both were earning about $60,000. Eventually the man launched two successful businesses and developed a product that managed to make him several million dollars. By 2018, the man's fortune has grown to $25 million. The woman continued to work over the course of the entire relationship, only ever taking maternity leave.
Following their breakup, the woman was reportedly told that because she was not involved in the process that led to the man's financial boom, no money was owed to her.
Judge Robert Mongeon disagreed.
In his ruling Judge Mongeon said the man was minimizing the woman's role in his life and without her contributions to maintaining their house and raising their children, the man would not have been able to spend so much time and energy building his fortune.
As a result Mongeon said the woman deserves more than $2.3 million, about 20 per cent of the fortune at the time of the breakup, in spousal compensation.