Are you getting divorced and are worried about losing half of your beloved stamp collection to your ex? Could it be excluded from the property that will be divided during your divorce? That depends on whether you started the collection before getting married and if it’s considered a true collection by the court.

The Civil Code of Quebec does not define what a ‟collection” is. This means that what you’re collecting doesn’t really matter: vinyl records, stamps, wine bottles or even dolphin statues could all qualify. What matters is the quantity and value of the items, which will determine whether they’re considered a collection.

Before or after marriage?

To establish that your collection is solely yours (also known as ‟private property”), you need to show that:

• the collection already belonged to you at the time of marriage.
• or, if you received it during the marriage, it was inherited or received as a gift.

If not, your collection may be considered a property that you and your ex accumulated during marriage, and won’t be a part of your ‟private property”. This means that the value of the items may be divided when the marriage ends.

This situation came up in a case involving an Elvis collector. Although the man claimed that he had started his collection before marriage, his ex argued that it had really taken shape during their life together. The Superior Court sided with her, concluding that the collection was built during their marriage and funded by both partners’ income.

In contrast, a woman was successfully able to get her collection of 750 cat figurines recognized as private property in 2009. The court decided that she didn’t have to divide its value with her previous partner. So don’t worry!

However, if you’re about to get married and want to make sure that your collection of tropical butterflies is considered private property, you can choosea different matrimonial regime through your marriage contract. This will allow you to decide in advance how the assets and debts you accumulated during your marriage will be managed and divided if you ever got divorced.

A collection or not?

The value of your property may also have an influence on whether it will count as a collection and can be excluded from your patrimony. Depending on the circumstances, this means that wine bottles can sometimes count as private property. The main question is: are the exquisite wine bottles meant to be used by the family?

In other words, if they’re consumed by the family daily, they may be considered part of the family patrimony. However, in 2016, the Superior Court recognized a man’s wine bottles as a collection and they were excluded from the family patrimony. How come?

First off, because of the quantity: he collected thousands of wine bottles. Secondly, because of their value: each bottle was worth between $1000 and $1500. And finally, because of limited access: although the wine cellar was in the family house, it was in a secured room that his ex had no access to.