Common Law Separation in Manitoba Canada

My ex and I had been living common law for about 2 years before we decided to end the relationship. While we were living common law she opened a line of credit and received a credit card in her name. We could not make either the line of credit or the credit card in both of our names because I was going through bankruptcy at the time.

Now that we have separated she has decided that she is entitled to some possessions (i.e. furniture items) even though all of our furniture was stuff I previously owned before the relationship. As I do not want to give up all of the possessions she has requested (I am willing to give her some furniture to help her establish herself on her own, however since she is the one who chose to end the relationship without trying to resolve any issues while I was more than willing to seek relationship counseling I do not feel I should give her as much as she is asking) she has decided to threaten to take me to court to force me to assume some of the debt that she acquired.

Since none of the debt is in my name, I did not place my signature on any of her credit applications, does she have any legal grounds to force me to assume half of the debt?

Normally you would not be liable to the card company under those circumstances but if a larger divorce or separation hearing is to occur the court can consider all options to resolve fairly, if eg you did receive some benefits from the funds etc.

I'm not sure if Manitoba recognizes common law marriage.

If you are keeping her possessions because you feel she should have made a decision more in line with your own wishes than hers, you cannot legally do that. You may have wanted to continue on with the relationship but she obviously did not, and you cannot force her to do so. You may feel that couples counseling would help, but she apparently did not, and wanted no part in it. With that said, any possessions you are holding that belong to her, are hers. You cannot, by law, keep them.

You are under no obligation to pay her bills. No, she has no legal grounds.

Just to clarify, the possessions I am talking about are all things that I owned prior to the relationship, none of them were hers before the relationship. Of the few items that we did acquire together, I let her take whatever she wanted.

If you have proof you paid for them and can show they were purchased before she entered the home, they are yours and if she removes them, she will be stealing. Again, you must be able to prove it was you and your money that bought the items and when, if you plan to take her to court for stealing your possessions.