A de facto relationship under Part 19 of the Property Law Act 1974 (Qld) requires that the parties have so merged their lives that they were, for all practical purposes, living together as a married couple. The fact that parties never lived together in a common abode is a strong indicator against a de facto relationship, and it would be a wholly exceptional case where parties who never cohabited and never made provision for mutual support could be found to be in such a relationship. A sexual relationship alone does not suffice.
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