In Canada, a divorce is granted under federal law. The division of assets is part of family law, which is under provincial jurisdiction. The law will vary from province to province, but all provinces follow the same general guidelines. Under family law, most assets acquired during the marriage are considered joint assets. There are a limited number of exceptions, such as family heirlooms inherited by one of the partners. Whether or not one or both of the partners could, or even would, acquire the assets is irrelevant. Once acquired, they are jointly owned. A parent who stays at home with the children is not penalized for lacking a source of income with which to purchase assets. Neither are interruptions to an individual's income considered a reason to disqualify them from their share of the assets of the marriage. There are many such reasons, including unemployment or underemployment, disability or other medical reasons, and incarceration. On the other hand, any assets acquired by an individual *after* he or she has separated are considered their own property, not joint assets of the marriage. If a spouse was incarcerated after he or she was legally separated, they would have no claim to assets acquired by their partner. However, simply being incarcerated does not constitute a legal separation. The reason a couple separates is important; an enforced separation is not considered a separation under divorce law. For the purpose of a divorce, a separation occurs when one or both partners no longer want to continue the marriage and makes arrangements to live separately. Going to jail does not constitute a legal separation under divorce law. If the couple were legally separated before the incarceration began, separated between serial incarcerations, or one party took legal action to register a separation while the other was incarcerated, then any assets they acquired after the start of the separation would be theirs and theirs alone. If this couple has been separated for 20 years, as is stated in the questions, any assets acquired since they separated 20 years ago are not considered joint assets of the marriage. they are personal property. It does not matter what either spouse did during that period. The only thing that matters is whether ot not they were legally separated as defined by federal divorce law.