A parents' rights group testified Friday on behalf of a woman taking her former live-in partner to court for alimony and a chunk of his fortune.

The group, Federation of Associations of Single Mothers and Rebuilt Families, says children are being discriminated against because one parent's income will be significantly lower in the case of a split, regardless of the marital status of the couple.

Next week, a lawyer for the Canadian government will argue the case for the defence. The lawyer is expected to say the Supreme Court of Canada has already ruled on a similar case from Nova Scotia.

Details on the couple

The couple was not married, but has three children and lived together for 10 years.

In Canada she is seeking a one-time payout of $50 million and monthly alimony of $56,000. In her native country she has filed a suit claiming 50 per cent of her former partner's assets, which are substantial.

Since 2002 he has been paying her $35,000 a month in child support. He bought her a $2.5M mansion in Outremont and pays for seven staff at a cost of $250,000 a year.

The couple cannot be named due to a publication ban.

Testimony

The court heard Monday from the woman that he kept promising to marry her. She believed they had even set a date: April 1, 2001.

Thursday the man said the date was just an April Fool's joke. He said he had expressed repeatedly that he did not believe in marriage and he did not want to be married.

Larger problem

The case has the potential to affect thousands of unmarried co-habiting couples. Quebec law does not recognize common law couples when it comes to splitting assets after a break up. If she is granted the spousal support and assets she is seeking, it will set a precedent in Quebec.

"I want to be recognized, I was like his wife," she told reporters at the court house Monday. "He was treating me like his wife."

Many Quebecers choose not to marry and do not realize that they do not enjoy the same rights under the law as married couples when they split.

The 2006 census found that more than one third of Quebec's couples are in a common law relationship.