Divorce and Family Services

Cohabitation for Unmarried Couples

Living together, but not married?

Do you believe that by living with someone you have the legal rights of a husband or wife? Have you ever wondered what would be the financial consequences if you split up with your long-term partner?

It may come as a surprise, that couples who have lived together for a long time without getting married and have children, do not have the same rights as married couples. The terms “common-law marriage,” “common law husband and “common law wife” have no legal status. The law for cohabiting couples is governed by the general principles of contract law and not family law.  Over recent years we have seen an increase in dealing with cases where unmarried couples are splitting up.

More and more couples are entering into cohabitation agreements, because they wish to have clarity and certainty on ownership of their property and money. A Cohabitation Agreement allows them to set out their living arrangements, but more importantly, to agree on what would happen to their property, personal possessions, family heirlooms and money should their relationship break down. A Cohabitation Agreement can cover matters such as ownership of property; how to divide mortgage liabilities; how to divide joint bank accounts; as well as agree maintenance and surnames for their children.

It is better for couples to agree on terms of their cohabitation relationship at the outset, rather than fight over property, money and children in court.

When unmarried couples purchase a property together it is wise for them to agree on how the property will be owned and who will be responsible for the liabilities, such as the mortgage, and in which proportions they will contribute. The couple can set out the circumstances in which a sale may take place and if appropriate, a provision which would allow one party to buy out the other party’s share in the event of a relationship breakdown.

Couples living together should also consider taking out life insurance to protect the survivor from financial hardship which might be caused by the death of the other.

The vast majority of people in the UK die intestate.  This means that they die without having executed a valid will and it can create all types of problems for their loved ones. Consequently couples who do not marry but live together, should discuss and put into action plans to ensure the survivor of them should have a home if one of them were to die.

A Cohabitation Agreement is a sensible measure to protect cohabiting unmarried couples and which can apply whilst they are living together, as well as set out what will happen on the breakdown of the relationship or the death of one of them.

A cohabitation agreement can deal with the following matters:

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law@andrewtobias.co.uk

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