The applicants, siblings of the deceased, brought an application to determine entitlement to the deceased's pension funds.
The deceased died intestate and the pension funds were payable to his surviving spouse, or to his estate if he had no spouse.
The respondent claimed to be the deceased's common law spouse, having lived with him for 28 years.
The applicants argued she was merely his housekeeper.
Applying the Molodowich factors, the court found overwhelming evidence that the deceased and the respondent lived in a conjugal relationship.
The court also held that the Pension Benefits Act does not require a formal beneficiary designation for a common law spouse to be entitled to survivor benefits.
The respondent was declared the common law spouse and beneficiary of the pension funds.
