Cohabitation agreement solicitors

Around 3.6 million couples in England and Wales live together without being married or in a civil partnership. Many of them assume they have the same legal rights as married couples if the relationship ends. They do not.

There is no such thing as 'common law marriage' in English law. Without a cohabitation agreement, an unmarried partner has no automatic entitlement to a share of the other person's property, even after many years together.

Having an agreement does not mean you are planning to split up. It means you are protecting both of you, clearly and fairly.

A cohabitation agreement is a legal contract that sets out how property, finances and assets will be managed during your relationship and divided if it ends. It removes uncertainty by setting out clearly what you have both agreed.

• It is legally binding if it is properly drafted, you have both received independent legal advice and neither of you signed under duress.
• It can cover the shared home, savings, debts, personal possessions and arrangements if the relationship ends.
• A Declaration of Trust can be prepared alongside it to formally record your shares in any jointly owned property.
• Courts take properly prepared cohabitation agreements seriously in any later dispute.

We draft agreements around your circumstances, not off-the-shelf documents. A good agreement is fair to both of you, and we make sure you both understand what you are signing.

Without an agreement in place, any dispute about who owns the property may have to be resolved through the courts, typically under the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996 (TOLATA). These cases are expensive, stressful and uncertain.

An agreement reached freely, when everything is good, avoids costly TOLATA claims if things go wrong. It gives you clear ownership from day one, which is particularly important if your contributions to the property are unequal.

If you have already separated, read about separation from an unmarried partner.

The best time is before you move in together. An agreement is much easier to put in place when things are good. Trying to agree terms after a dispute has arisen is far more difficult and expensive.

If you are about to move in together or have recently done so, now is the right time to speak to us. Where you are buying a property together, we can prepare the cohabitation agreement and a Declaration of Trust at the same time.

Knowing that the financial side is clear and documented lets you focus on the relationship, not the what-ifs.