Seniors Living Together

Living together is increasingly the choice of the growing 50s and 60s crowd.

The most recent census figures suggest that older couples have little incentive to get married. There are big increases in the number of people over 50 in common-law unions, with the most significant growth in the early 60s crowd. At the same time, the practice is in decline among the 20 and 30-somethings.

Experts say that given more liberal social attitudes, a larger number of divorced and the lack of financial incentive to marry, many older Canadians simply don’t feel the need to marry.

Between 2001 and 2006, the most recent year for census data, the number of Canadians in common-law relationships shot up 77 per cent among those aged 60 to 64 and between 44 and 64 per cent for all other age groups over 50.

A US publication suggests that Cohabiting Seniors Should Protect Their Rights.

If you and your partner plan to live together without getting married, you can take a number of steps to ensure that you are protected and your wishes are followed in the event of ill health or death.

• Sign a cohabitation agreement.
• Provide access to health care decision making.
• Sign a durable power of attorney.
• Update your will.
• Think about the tax consequences of gifts.
• Look into registering as domestic partners.

This is an important checklist for seniors living together to consider, whatever the country they are living in.

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