---
title: "Can I claim compensation or recourse for unjust enrichment if I am not married? ✦ Goldwater Droit"
meta:
  "og:description": "Unmarried partners in Quebec can claim unjust enrichment for economic imbalance. Learn about the conditions and how courts provide compensation for significant contributions. Learn your options."
  "og:title": "Can I claim compensation or recourse for unjust enrichment if I am not married?"
  description: "Unmarried partners in Quebec can claim unjust enrichment for economic imbalance. Learn about the conditions and how courts provide compensation for significant contributions. Learn your options."
---

# Can I claim compensation or recourse for unjust enrichment if I am not married?

In Québec, unmarried partners are not subject to matrimonial or family patrimony rules, but a person may claim a civil remedy for unjust enrichment under C.c.Q. arts. 1493–1496. To succeed, they must prove three elements: one partner was enriched, the other was impoverished, and there was no legal justification for the imbalance. The court may grant monetary compensation if the claimant contributed significantly to the other’s property or finances. This remedy does not create spousal rights but provides limited fairness in economic partnerships outside marriage.

C.c.Q. art. 1493–1496; C.c.Q. art. 585; Kerr v. Baranow, 2011 SCC 10