Planning ahead for a marriage with a Canadian element
The provincial regime, not the agreement alone, determines the default — so the agreement has to displace something specific.
A couple plans to marry; one holds a Vancouver property and shares in a family company, and both will spend time in China.
Confirm the provincial default first, then decide what the agreement should change about it.
The position in one paragraph
The provincial regime, not the agreement alone, determines the default — so the agreement has to displace something specific.
Because the common-law provinces use deferred sharing rather than community property, the starting position is already that each spouse keeps their own assets. A domestic contract then adjusts a position that is not what clients typically assume, and it must be drafted against the correct default.
A typical situation
A couple plans to marry; one holds a Vancouver property and shares in a family company, and both will spend time in China.
Drafting an agreement against an assumed community-property default. The agreement is then aimed at the wrong target and leaves the important question unaddressed.
What distinguishes this from a purely domestic case
Quebec applies a civil-law regime close to community property; the common-law provinces use deferred sharing or judicial discretion.
On the China side, the connecting factor has to be established on the documents: A prenuptial or postnuptial agreement is enforceable in China where it complies with the formal requirements and is not used to evade obligations.
The practical sequence in a Canada-connected matter
- Decide which law should govern the agreement, given where the assets and the parties are
- Identify the assets each party brings in and those acquired during the marriage
- Consider whether a trust or corporate structure is appropriate, and who controls it
- Record the agreement in a form that will actually be recognised in each relevant jurisdiction
Apostille has only been available since January 2024, so documents prepared earlier followed the longer consular route.
How Canada documents are handled
Apostille in force since 11 January 2024. Issued by the competent provincial or territorial authority, or Global Affairs Canada for federal documents.
A marriage certificate is a provincial document, so the province of issue — not where you now live — determines where the Apostille is obtained.
A marriage certificate is a provincial document; a federal document follows an entirely different certification route.
What has to be decided before filing
Confirm the provincial default first, then decide what the agreement should change about it.
The boundary to plan around is this: An agreement that is valid in one country may not be recognised in another; the governing law and the enforcement jurisdiction both matter. Where value sits in Canada — typically Vancouver or Toronto property, RRSP and TFSA accounts, corporate equity — it is handled by agreement or by a separate route there, not by an order the Chinese court could enforce directly.
If your situation has a Canada element
Planning is far cheaper than litigating, particularly where assets are held in more than one country. Tell us where the assets are and we will outline what is worth structuring now.
For Canadian matters, the province that issued the document controls the certification route, and the province where the assets sit controls the entitlement analysis. Those are two different questions and they are frequently conflated.
Frequently asked questions
Free initial review of jurisdiction, documents and enforceability — before any cost is committed.