Help with Change my marital status

Verify your address (CMM.a1)

General information

This page displays the address we have on file for you.

Definitions and explanations

Yes
You are confirming that the address displayed on the screen is your current address.

No
You are confirming that the address displayed on the screen is not your current address. Selecting "No" will take you to the "Change my address" application to update your address. After you have updated your address, you can restart the "Change my marital status" application.

View your existing marital status (CMM.a2)

General information

This page displays your existing marital status.

Definitions and explanations

Yes
You wish to change your marital status.

No
You are confirming that the marital status we have on file is correct.

Married
A person who is legally married (that is, has a marriage contract with another person) and that marriage remains intact.

Common-law
A person who lives in a conjugal relationship but is not legally married.

Widowed
A person who was married or engaged in a common-law relationship, but whose relationship has ended following the death of their spouse or common-law partner AND who has not later married or entered into a common-law relationship.

Divorced
A person whose marriage has ended through divorce AND who has not reconciled with their spouse, married again, or entered into a common-law relationship.

Separated
A person who has lived separate and apart from their spouse or common-law partner for a period of 90 days or more because of a breakdown of their marriage or common-law partnership.

Single
A person who has never been married.

Unstated
A status of "unstated" is initiated by filing an income tax return with no marital status information indicated.

Validation and Controls (V&C) indicator appears on existing marital status
The existing marital status information that is being displayed indicates that a compliance area has reviewed and verified your marital status for that date/period. Therefore, no more changes can occur for the period previously reviewed. If more changes are required, the individual must forward their request in writing to the CRA.

New marital status information (CMM.a3)

General information

This page gives you the opportunity to update your marital status. You must provide the following information:

New marital status

Select the down arrow beside the "Enter your new marital status" box and choose the marital status that applies to you.

Definitions and explanations

Married
A person who is legally married (that is, has a marriage contract with another person) and that marriage remains intact.

Common-law
A person who lives in a conjugal relationship but is not legally married.

Widowed
A person who was married or engaged in a common-law relationship, but whose relationship has ended following the death of their spouse or common-law partner AND who has not later married or entered into a common-law relationship.

Divorced
A person whose marriage has ended through divorce AND who has not reconciled with their spouse, married again, or entered into a common-law relationship.

Separated
A person who has lived separate and apart from their spouse or common-law partner for a period of 90 days or more because of a breakdown of their marriage or common-law partnership.  Once you have been separated for 90 days due to a breakdown of the relationship, the effective day of your separated status is the day you started living separate and apart.

Single
A person who has never been married.

Effective date of your marital status
This is the date of your new marital status. Select the down arrow beside each box (Year, Month, Day), and choose from the list provided.  This is a mandatory field.

Natural progression
When updating your marital status, you have to follow a natural progression based on the marital status we have on file.

Examples of natural progression include the following:

• married to separated, divorced, or widowed
• common-law to married, separated, widowed, or single
• widowed to single, married or common-law
• divorced to single, married, or common-law
• separated to divorced, widowed, single, married, or common-law
• single to married or common-law

Continue
Selecting "Continue" will advance you to the next screen on your way to updating your new marital status.

Cancel
"Cancel" will take you back to the "View your existing marital status" page.  No new marital status information will be updated.

CMM05 – You must select a marital status. 
You indicated that you want to change your marital status, but you left the marital status field blank. This is a mandatory field.

CMM06 – The marital status you have selected is incorrect. It does not follow a natural progression.
When updating your marital status, you have to follow a natural progression based on the marital status we have on file. Please see the above section on natural progression.

If you cannot follow the natural progression, you can send your request in writing.

CMM07– You must select an effective date.
This is the day you started your new marital status. This is a mandatory field.

CMM08– The effective date for your common-law relationship must be greater than December 31, 1991.
The CRA only recognizes common-law relationships after December 31, 1991.

CMM09 – You have selected a marital status of single or separated. If your previous marital status was married or common-law you must be separated or single for at least 90 days.
CRA considers an individual separated when they live separate and apart from their spouse or common-law partner for a period of 90 days or more due to a breakdown in their relationship. Separation of less than 90 days is not considered a separation for the purposes of Child and Family Benefits. Once an individual has been separated for 90 days, the effective day of their separated status is the day they started living separate and apart.

CMM10 – You have selected a marital status and effective date that is equal to the information currently on your file.
The information you sent is the same as what we have on file.

CMM11 – The effective date for your new marital status indicates that you are less than 10 years of age.  The effective date of your marital status must be greater than 10 years from your date of birth.
For individuals less than 10 years of age, the CRA only recognizes the status of single.

CMM16 – You have selected an effective date in the future. Please correct your entry.
The CRA only accepts marital status changes up to today’s date.

CMM26 – You are trying to change a status which has been previously reviewed and confirmed.
If you have tried to update a marital status for a date/period that the CRA has already reviewed and verified, the system will not allow the update. So you have to send the new information in writing to the CRA.

CMM27 – You are trying to enter marital status change with an effective date that is greater than three calendar years.
Individuals who have not filed a current-year return and are not Canada child tax benefits recipients can only change their marital status for the period within three years of today’s date.

CMM29 – You cannot make a change to an existing December 31st status.
If you want to make a change to a status with the December 31 date, you have to send your request in writing.

CMM31 – You have filed a current-year T1 return. Therefore, you are only allowed to update your marital status for the year in which you filed the return, up to today’s date.
Individuals who have filed a current-year return can only change their marital status for the period within the year of the return up to the date they are processing their change.

For example: The processing date is July 28, 2012, and the individual has filed a 2011 return. The individual will be allowed to update their marital status for the period from January 1, 2011 to July 28, 2012.

CMM32 – You cannot update your marital status using this service unless you have filed a current-year T1 return.
Individuals who are displaying a marital status of "unstated" will be allowed to change their status to a valid status if they have filed a current year return. A current year is defined as the year in which you are processing your marital status change, or the previous year.

For example: The processing date is July 28, 2012, and the individual has filed a 2011 return. The 2011 return is displaying a marital status of "unstated" as of December 31, 2011. The individual may change their marital status of "unstated" to a valid marital status as long as their valid status follows the natural progression rules.

CMM33 – The date entered must be after the existing date on the system.
Individuals who have not filed a current-year return must ensure that their marital status change is subsequent to the information currently being displayed on the system. A current-year is defined as the year in which you are processing your marital status change, or the previous year.

For example: The processing date is July 28, 2012, and the individual has not filed a 2011 return. The individual filed their 2010 return as married. Therefore, the marital status change must fall after December 31, 2010.

CMM35 - You cannot update a marital status with an effective date after a client has been declared deceased.
The CRA only accepts marital status changes effective up to the date of death of the client.

Error messages
If you cannot update your marital status or receive an error message, you can submit your request in writing. If you want to speak to one of our agents, please call the helpdesk at 1-800-959-8281. Before you call, please print the error message and have it handy.

Residency status of spouse or common-law partner (CMM.a4)

General information

You must tell us if your spouse or common-law partner is a non-resident. This information is used for income tax purposes.

Definitions and explanations

Non-resident
Your spouse or common-law partner is a non-resident for tax purposes if they:

• usually, customarily, or routinely live in another country and are not considered a resident of Canada; or
• do not have residential ties in Canada; and
  • they live outside Canada throughout the tax year; or
  • they stay in Canada for less than 183 days in the tax year.

Yes
You are confirming that your spouse or common-law partner is a non-resident.

No
You are confirming that your spouse or common-law partner is a resident of Canada.

Identification of spouse or common-law partner (CMM.a5)

General information

You must advise us of your spouse or common-law partner's social insurance number, temporary tax number or individual tax number.

Definitions and explanations

Social insurance number
The authorized number for income tax purposes under section 237 of the Income Tax Act and is used under certain federal programs.

Temporary tax number
An internal number provided by the Canada Revenue Agency to a taxpayer who resides in Canada for income tax purposes but who cannot get a social insurance number.

Individual tax number
An internal number provided by the Canada Revenue Agency to non-residents who need an identification number but who are not eligible to get a social insurance number.

Continue
Selecting "Continue" will advance you to the next screen on your way to updating your new marital status.

Cancel
"Cancel" will take you back to the "View your existing marital status" page.  No new marital status information will be updated.

CMM17 – You have entered an invalid account number for your spouse/partner.  Please correct your entry.
The account number entered does not match any social insurance number, temporary tax number, or individual tax number in our system. This is a mandatory field.

CMM18 – You have exceeded the limit of attempts to enter your spouse/partner’s account number.
After many tries, you have not entered a valid account number. However, you can still send your new marital status in writing.

CMM19 – The effective date for your spouse/partner’s new marital status indicates that they are less than 10 years of age. The effective date of their marital status must be greater than 10 years from their date of birth.
For individuals less than 10 years of age, the CRA only recognizes the status of single.

CMM20 – The earliest effective date for same sex marriages is June 10 2003. 
The CRA only recognizes same sex marriages as of June 10, 2003.

CMM21 – The earliest effective date for same sex common-law relationships is on or after December 31 1998.
The CRA only recognizes same-sex, common-law relationships as of December 31, 1998.

CMM23 – You must enter an account number that is not your own.  
You entered your account number instead of your spouse’s account number. Please enter the account number of your spouse.

CMM24 – Your spouse/partner’s account is currently under review.
You can still send your new marital status in writing.

CMM36 – You cannot update a marital status with an effective date after a spouse has been declared deceased.
The CRA only accepts marital status changes effective up to the date of death of the spouse.

Name of spouse or common-law partner (CMM.a6)

General information

You must advise us of your spouse or common-law partner's first name.

Definitions and explanations

Continue
Selecting "Continue" will advance you to the next screen on your way to updating your new marital status.

Cancel
"Cancel" will take you back to the "View your existing marital status" page.  No new marital status information will be updated.

CMM13 – You must enter your spouse/partner's first name.
You must provide your spouse’s or common-law partner’s first name.  This is a mandatory field.

CMM14 – You have entered an invalid character in your spouse/partner’s first name.
Hyphens, apostrophes, periods, and spaces are allowed in the name, unless the name starts with such a character.  All other forms of punctuation are not valid.

Confirm your spouse or common-law par#146;tner's identification and name (CMM.a7)

General information

This page displays your spouse's or common-law partner's social insurance number, temporary tax number, or individual tax number and their first name.

• If the information is not correct, re-enter your spouse or common-law partner's social insurance number, temporary tax number, or individual tax number.
• If the name of your spouse or common-law partner is not correct, they must contact us to update or make a change. They can make a change or update in writing.
• To speak to one of our agents, please call the helpdesk at 1-800-959-8281.

Definitions and explanations

Submit
By pressing this button, you acknowledge that all information on the screen is accurate.  Your marital status information will be updated to CRA’s systems.

Back
If the name displayed does not match your spouse or common-law partner's name, select the "Back" button to return to the "Identification of spouse or common-law partner" page and correct his or her account number.

Cancel
"Cancel" will take you back to the "View your existing marital status" page.  No new marital status information will be updated.

Thank you for using Change my marital status. (CMM.a8)

General information

This page confirms that the changes you asked for have been made.

Simultaneous Updating of Client and Spouse/Common-law Partner’s Marital Status
You should be aware that their spouse/common-law partner’s marital status will not be updated simultaneously. There are strict guidelines and privacy requirements surrounding another individual’s information.

Confirm your new marital status (CMM.a9)

General information

This page displays your proposed new marital status.

Definitions and explanations

Submit
By pressing this button, you acknowledge that all information on the screen is accurate. Your marital status information will be updated to CRA's systems.

Back
If the new marital status or the effective date is incorrect, select the "Back" button to go back to the "New marital status information" page and correct your marital status information.

Cancel
"Cancel" will take you back to the "View your existing marital status" page. No new marital status information will be updated.

Confirm your spouse or common-law partner's name (CMM.a10)

General information

This page displays your spouse's or common-law partner's first name.

Definitions and explanations

Submit
By pressing this button, you acknowledge that all information on the screen is accurate. Your marital status information will be updated to CRA's systems.

Back
If the name displayed does not match your spouse's name, select the "Back" button to go back to the "Name of spouse or common-law partner" page and correct your spouse's name.

Cancel
"Cancel" will take you back to the "View your existing marital status" page. No new marital status information will be updated.

CMM30 - Warning: The name you entered contains three or more same consecutive letters. If the information is correct, select "Continue".
Please check the spelling. If correct, we will update the information accordingly.

CMM34 - Your spouse or common-law partner's name contains information that the Canada Revenue Agency is unable to process through this service.
You can still send your new marital status in writing.