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LAO Client Portal
  • Legal Help
    • Apply for legal aid
      • What is legal aid?
      • Do I qualify for legal aid?
      • Apply now
      • Client Portal
    • Our services
      • About our services
      • Family legal issues
      • Criminal legal issues
      • Refugee and immigration legal issues
      • Domestic violence legal issues
      • Mental health legal issues
      • Youth legal issues
      • Getting help at court (duty counsel)
      • Services in French
    • column-break
    • Find help
      • Find a lawyer
      • Find a legal clinic
      • Find a duty counsel office
      • Find a legal aid office
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Which family members count as part of my family unit?

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Your family unit includes:

  1. You
  2. Your spouse (married, common-law, same-sex).

    A spouse is someone you:

    • Are married to, or
    • Live with in a common-law relationship (meaning you have lived together for three or more years, or you live together and have a biological/adopted child), or
    • Live with in a conjugal (non-platonic) relationship, regardless of the amount of time you have lived together.
  3. Your dependent children (including spouse’s dependent children).

    A biological or adopted child counts as dependent if they are unmarried and:

    • are under 18 years old or
    • are under 26 years old and in school full-time, and
    • live with you at least 50% of the time or is financially supported by you to live outside the home.

    A child does not count as dependent if they are:

    • a foster child
    • an adult child who receives Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) benefits
    • a youth who has withdrawn from parental control (meaning they are16 years old or older, no longer live at home, and have made the choice to become independent and assume the responsibility of their own financial situation)
  • This form is feedback only.
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Questions

My child is a minor parent (a parent under the age of 18)—do I count my child and their child as part of my family unit?

I live with a dependent adult relative (for instance, aging parents or a sibling with a disability). Do they count as part of my family unit?

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