Civil Marriage Act, "It is clear that this court action is a last resort taken by gay and lesbian couples in New Brunswick who want to join the other nearly 90 percent of Canadians who live in jurisdictions where same-sex couples have the right to marry, They don't have that right in New Brunswick, even though they are Canadian citizens, taxpayers and contributing members of their community." On June 23 of that year, Judge Judy Clendenning of the Court of Queen's Bench of New Brunswick in Moncton ruled that the province's failure to issue marriage licences to same-sex couples was a violation of their Charter rights, in accordance with court rulings in other provinces. She allowed a ten-day grace period to the government to make the necessary administrative adjustments, after which it had to begin issuing same-sex marriage licences. This was less than a month before the Parliament of Canada made same-sex marriage legal throughout the country. The new licences became available on July 4. This decision meant that about 90% of the Canadian population were living in provinces and territories where same-sex marriage is legal. The federal Civil Marriage Act which received royal assent on July 20, 2005 expanded this number to cover the entire country. Provincial legislation In March 2007, the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick amended the provincial Family Services Act to allow same-sex couples to adopt. The amendments took effect on 1 February 2008. In December 2008, the Assembly made numerous amendments to the Marriage Act () and other acts regarding family law, replacing references to "husband and wife" with the gender-neutral term "spouses". The legislation received royal assent by Lieutenant Governor Herménégilde Chiasson on 19 December 2008. New Brunswick legislation recognises cohabitation agreements (, ) which can be entered into by two people who live together but are not married to each other. It is a written agreement recognised by the provincial Family Services Act that sets out rights and responsibilities for common-law partners. The agreement provides partners with several, but not all, of the rights and benefits of marriage. Common-law partners are allowed to make medical decisions for each other in the case one partner is unable to (e.g. accident), enjoy the same tax benefits as married spouses, are required to support one another, and may be entitled to share pension credits if the partners have lived together continuously for two years. However, common-law