Cohabitation Agreements
What is a cohabitation agreement?
A cohabitation agreement is a legal document created by two individuals who are living together (often in a long-term relationship) without being married. The purpose of having this agreement is to outline the rights and responsibilities of each partner in respect to various aspects of their relationship. It is especially advisable to have a cohabitation agreement if you own property jointly or have children together. As stated above, there are no real legal protections for unmarried, cohabiting couples and certain existing laws might not reflect the relationship you have to offer a fair solution should the relationship break down.
Things to Consider
- Property Rights – The agreement can specify how property acquired during the relationship will be owned and divided. This can include what the beneficial interests that each partner has are, who pays for the mortgage and who pays the utility bills as well as what the divide of each of these will be. It will also be important to go over what happens to the property should the relationship breakdown to avoid disputes further down the line.
- Financial Responsibilities – Often when a couple are cohabiting, it is natural for them to have a joint bank account. It is therefore important to outline what the financial responsibilities of each partner will be. This can also include the divide in child care responsibilities. The agreement should outline how the money in the joint account should be divided if the relationship was to break down in the future.
- Child Custody and Arrangements – Having children can make cohabiting relationships more complex and without the legal protection that marriage offers, it is important that the agreement highlights all relevant points for what is to happen should the relationship break down. This can include custody arrangements, visitation and financial support.
- Inheritance – An agreement should also outline what happens to the assets of a partner upon their death. As the couple are not married, the assets don’t automatically pass to the other. It is advisable to make a Will to outline how the assets should be divided. For more information, please click here.
- Legal Validity – A cohabitation agreement is legally binding so long as both parties entered into it voluntarily and both understand and agree to the terms of the agreement.
How long does it take?
The timeframe for how long cohabitation agreements take vary depending on the circumstances of each case. Where a couple can agree on the terms, the overall process will not take long and can be completed between a couple of weeks to a couple of months to finalise all the documents. Once our solicitors have been instructed and have begun on your case, we will be able to give you a more accurate estimation of your file’s timeframe.
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