The applicant commenced a family law application seeking to declare the deceased respondent's religious marriage to the second respondent void, and to annul that marriage on the basis of bigamy.
The second respondent claimed to be a common law spouse entitled to spousal support under Part III of the Family Law Act.
The court found the proceeding moot because the deceased respondent had already died before the application was commenced, such that he was no longer a "spouse" under either the Family Law Act or the Divorce Act.
The second respondent's only available remedies lie in an application for dependent's relief under the Succession Law Reform Act.
The proceeding was dismissed as moot without prejudice to those rights.
