FNLM Draft Interim Spousal Property Law
FIRST NATIONS LAND MANAGEMENT - MUSQUEAM LAND CODE
DRAFT Interim Spousal Property Law
You’re invited: Band Member Consultation Meeting
Date: Thursday, October 9, 2014
Time: 5:30 pm Dinner 6:00 Meeting Start
Where: Musqueam Community Gym 6777 Salish Drive
We invite all Band Members to attend, & enjoy a meal.
“Draft Musqueam Interim Spousal Property Law”.
Please be advised the DRAFT Interim Spousal Property Law will available to be signed out & returned to Musqueam Lands Dept. at meetings end.
Questions?
Please call Kim A. Guerin, Coordinator, Musqueam Land Code
Phone: 604-263-3261 or 1-866-282-3261
What does on-reserve matrimonial real property law mean to Musqueam?
Resolution of this issue is long overdue. Government bodies at all levels have consistently recommended legislative action.
Provincial laws protect the matrimonial real property interests and rights of both spouses during a relationship, or in the event of separation, divorce or death. However, on-reserve matrimonial interests or rights include a couple’s family home and other matrimonial interests or rights, where either spouses or common-law partners live together.
In 1986, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that courts cannot apply provincial family laws on reserves governed by the Indian Act, if doing so would alter individual interests in matrimonial real property on reserves.
• Many of the legal protections relating to matrimonial interests or rights that are applicable off reserves are not available to individuals on reserves; and
• The Indian Act is silent on this issue.
Through the 2012 ratification of the Musqueam Land Code, Musqueam Band Members voted to manage our own land and resources.
This means we are now in a position to make our own law on matrimonial real property. We need your input on this important issue.
