For couples in a cohabiting relationship there is no equivalent process to getting divorced or ending a civil partnership. Contrary to popular belief there is no such thing as a “common law marriage”. Cohabiting with someone does not entitle you to the same legal rights as a couple who are married or in a civil partnership.

You can live with your partner for many years and still have no rights over a family home that is in your partner’s sole name.  Cohabitant’s rights are patchy and complex and in the event of a dispute the law can be uncertain and difficult to apply.

Importance of cohabitation agreement

It is important to ensure that your rights are protected if you are planning to live with your partner, particularly if you intend to buy a home together. If you are planning to buy a home with your partner, you may enter into a cohabitation agreement or have a deed of trust drawn up (or have both).

The circumstances in which you might want to have a cohabitation agreement, or a trust deed are as follows:

• You will both be contributing different shares to the purchase of your home and you want to be clear on what share in your home each of you will hold.
• You have children from a previous relationship or are planning to have more children.
• You want to agree in advance who will pay for certain debts or bills.
• You want to protect loans or gifts from the bank of “mum and dad”.

Our family law partner Saika Alam is a qualified Collaborative Family Law lawyer which means that in the right circumstances she can assist you in reaching a negotiated settlement outside the court process.  Saika is also accredited by the Law Society and is on the Advanced Family Law panel.

You can book a complimentary 30 minutes consultation session with our friendly and knowledgeable Head of Family Law, Saika Alam. In the session, Saika will learn more about the challenges that you are facing and talk through how we can help.