If you’re planning to move in with your partner, or you’ve already been living together without marrying, it’s important to understand that unmarried couples do not have the same legal rights as married couples. There is no such thing as a “common law marriage” in England and Wales. A cohabitation agreement allows you to decide in advance what should happen if your circumstances change, reducing the risk of costly disputes down the line.
Cohabitation agreements are often used where one person already owns a property and their partner moves in, particularly where the new partner will be contributing towards the mortgage. They are also commonly used where one partner is contributing a larger deposit towards a property purchase, or where a couple simply wants certainty about how property and finances will be dealt with if they later separate. They can also be valuable for friends or family members who buy or own property together.
Led by Sobiah Hussain, Head of Private Family Law, our team advises clients across England and Wales on all aspects of cohabitation agreements. Whether you’re putting an agreement in place before moving in together, reviewing an existing agreement or looking to protect significant assets, we can advise on the legal implications, prepare a bespoke agreement and help maximise the likelihood of it being upheld should it ever be challenged.
What a Cohabitation Agreement Can Cover
There is no standard template for a cohabitation agreement – every agreement should reflect your individual circumstances and can cover:
- Ownership of property and the parties’ shares.
- Rent, mortgage payments and household bills.
- Savings, investments and joint bank accounts.
- Personal possessions and jointly purchased items.
- Responsibility for debts.
- Financial arrangements if the relationship ends.
- Financial arrangements if one of you becomes seriously ill or dies, alongside appropriate wills and estate planning.
- Intentions regarding financial arrangements for children.
Are Cohabitation Agreements Legally Binding?
A properly drafted cohabitation agreement can be legally binding provided it is intended to create legal relations, is correctly executed and both parties have entered into it freely.
To maximise the likelihood that an agreement will be upheld, both parties should:
- Obtain independent legal advice from separate solicitors.
- Provide full and honest financial disclosure.
- Enter into the agreement voluntarily and without pressure.
- Ensure the agreement accurately reflects their intentions.
In our experience, many disputes arise because couples rely on informal conversations or assumptions about what would happen if they separated. A carefully prepared agreement provides certainty and significantly reduces the scope for later disagreement.
How Our Cohabitation Agreement Solicitors Can Help
Every couple’s circumstances are different, so the agreement should reflect your particular situation rather than relying on a standard template.
We can advise whether a cohabitation agreement is appropriate, prepare a bespoke agreement tailored to your circumstances, review or update an existing agreement, and advise on related matters such as Declarations of Trust, property ownership, wills and pre-nuptial agreements.
If your relationship has already broken down and there is a dispute over property ownership or financial contributions, we can also advise on resolving matters through negotiation, mediation or, where necessary, TOLATA proceedings.
Obtaining legal advice before problems arise is often considerably simpler, quicker and less expensive than resolving a dispute after a relationship has ended.
Sobiah Hussain
Partner, Solicitor-Advocate, Collaborative Law Practitioner & Head of Private Family Law
Meet the teamCohabitation Agreements – Key Information
A Declaration of Trust is a separate legal document that records each person’s beneficial interest in a property, in other words, what share they own, regardless of whose name appears on the legal title.
It is often prepared alongside a cohabitation agreement rather than instead of one. Whilst a cohabitation agreement deals with the wider financial arrangements between the parties, a Declaration of Trust specifically records ownership of the property itself. Together, they can provide much greater certainty if circumstances later change.
We can advise whether a Declaration of Trust would be beneficial in your circumstances and prepare both documents together where appropriate.
Online templates can appear to be a quick and inexpensive solution, but they are designed to suit a wide range of situations rather than your individual circumstances.
In our experience, the biggest problem with DIY agreements is often not what they say, but what they fail to address. Issues such as existing property ownership, unequal financial contributions, inheritances and changing circumstances can easily be overlooked. It is also common for poorly drafted agreements to leave uncertainty about whether the parties intended them to be legally bound.
If you have already prepared your own agreement, we can review it, explain whether it is likely to provide the protection you intended and recommend any amendments where appropriate.
A cohabitation agreement is designed for couples who are not married or in a civil partnership. If you later decide to marry, it is sensible to review the arrangements you have in place, as a different legal framework will then apply.
In many cases, replacing a cohabitation agreement with a pre-nuptial agreement before the wedding provides more appropriate protection and helps ensure the arrangements continue to reflect your intentions throughout the marriage.
A cohabitation agreement should not necessarily remain unchanged forever. Relationships and financial circumstances often evolve over time. You may purchase a property together, have children, receive an inheritance or simply find that the agreement no longer reflects how you organise your finances.
Reviewing your agreement following a significant change in circumstances helps ensure it continues to provide the protection you intended. Where necessary, we can advise on updating the agreement so that it accurately reflects your current arrangements.
Meet the Private Family Law Team
Sobiah Hussain
Partner, Solicitor-Advocate, Collaborative Law Practitioner & Head of Private Family Law
Irrum Shah
Senior Associate Solicitor
Alison Page
Senior Associate Solicitor
Emma Macdonald
Chartered Legal Executive
Frequently Asked Questions
A Cohabitation Agreement is sometimes referred to as a ‘living together agreement’. It is a legal document which outlines how an unmarried couple will manage their assets and financial matters whilst living together. It also outlines what will happen to such assets in the event of a separation, illness or death.
An unmarried couple refers to anyone who has not entered into a marriage or civil partnership. This includes both romantic partners and non-romantic partnerships (such as friendships or siblings) which wish to live together.
Such a contract can provide a level of security, protection and peace of mind between two people who are not protected by the same rights afforded to a couple in marriage.
In the UK, Cohabitating is defined as an ‘unmarried couple’ who are living together in a long-term relationship. Traditionally this is seen as ‘resembling a marriage’, however cohabitants can cover those that are a couple in the non-romantic or relationship sense.
Such cohabitating unmarried couples can therefore include friends or siblings who choose to live together – especially where they decide to own property jointly.
In law, those that have not had their relationship legally recognised through marriage or civil partnership do not receive the same rights. This is true despite whether you have lived together for a long period of time, or if you have children together. For siblings or friends living together, there is no equivalent.
Having a legal document or contract like a cohabitation agreement can fill this gap. When paired with a will, it provides a level of protection in the event of illness, death or separation. An agreement can make sure you have a share of each other’s assets, access to each other’s pension, and next of kin rights in a medical emergency.
A cohabitation agreement can cover:
Property:
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- Ownership of land and property
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- How each of you have contributed to the deposits of property
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- Jointly bought items such as cars, furniture
Finances:
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- How joint bank accounts will be handled upon separation.
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- How any debts will be handled upon separation.
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- How each person contributes to expenses including rent, mortgage or household bills
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- Life insurance policies on each other
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- Nominated pension beneficiaries
Pets and Children:
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- What will happen to any pets that are owned by the couple.
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- How will any children be supported.
Any unmarried couple (whether a romantic couple or a partnership of some sort) who plan on living together should consider making a cohabitation agreement.
If you are planning to, or are currently living with your partner, friend or sibling then a legal agreement could be useful. By creating a legal document outlining your financial responsibilities and assets, you may prevent issues and disagreements in the future.
None. It is a common misunderstanding that living together as a couple for a period of time equates to a ‘common law marriage’ and provides a similar or equal level of legal rights and protection as a marriage or civil partnership. This is incorrect, as in UK law there is no such thing as a common law marriage.
Even if you have been living together as a couple for over 10 years, your legal rights as a couple are the same for any unmarried cohabitating couple in the UK.
Cohabitation agreements are technically not legally binding in the UK. However, so long as they are highly persuasive and done properly then the Court is able to uphold them. Therefore, providing that both of you have been honest about your finances and assets, it is highly likely that a court would enforce a cohabitation agreement as a legal contract if it has been created correctly and legally.
To start the process of creating a cohabitation agreement it is recommended that you sit down as a couple (romantic or otherwise). Consider what assets you have individually and jointly, and how you wish them to be divided in the event of a separation.
You should consider:
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- Property – both rented and owned.
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- Investments and savings.
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- Debts and financial responsibilities.
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- Pensions and insurance.
When instructing a solicitor, they may ask for supporting documents as well as providing a full, formal financial disclosure.
Yes, you can write your own cohabitation agreement. A quick search online can reveal many online templates for such legal contracts, however creating these documents can be tricky. Without a legal background it can be easily to unknowingly set your contract up to fail – with unprecise wording, failing to include information, and missing steps or parts of the process.
It is also important that those creating legal contracts understand the importance of pre-contract conditions that need to be met to ensure that the document is as legally enforceable in court as possible. It can be easy to spend time and effort creating a document which then holds no legal weight in court and can be easily dismissed by a solicitor representing your partner in a separation.
As such, the money saved in not using a solicitor can cost you dearly in the event of a separation where you come to rely on a cohabitation agreement. We highly recommend seeking legal advice before creating or entering into any legal agreement. It is a requirement that both signing parties take legal advice before entering into any legal agreement.
As mentioned above, there are many issues with creating your own cohabitation agreement (or any legal document) without the advice of a solicitor. The worst case scenario is that the contract you have created as a cohabitation agreement is quickly dismissed in court when you are relying on it to protect your interests.
A solicitor can ensure that any legal contract is created to be as binding as possible. This will ensure that it has been created correctly, includes all necessary legal clauses and has met all pre-contract conditions. A cohabitation agreement solicitor will ensure that you know your legal obligations under the agreement, and what implications there are for signing such an agreement.
So in spending a bit of money up-front in creating a cohabitation agreement can pay off when you come to rely on it later in court.
The cost of a cohabitation agreement can vary depending on whether you both (as an ‘unmarried couple’) are on the same page or not. If you need to involve external negotiation or meditation in making the agreement, then costs can be increased.
If you both have settled on what the agreement should be and outline, then the process should be reasonably free of complications.
We offer an hourly rate which would typically come to around £1500 plus VAT.
If your circumstances have changed since creating a cohabitation agreement, then contact your solicitor.
It is common for situations to change when living together, such as buying a property (or another property if you currently own one together), moving to another country, or having children together. A solicitor will be able to advise you on any changes that need to happen on the existing cohabitation agreement.
If you do not update an agreement so that it reflects your current situation and assets, your existing cohabitation agreement may not be legally binding when you come to rely on it.
If you and your partner choose to get married or enter into a civil partnership, the new legal rights you benefit from will mean the Cohabitation Agreement will no longer apply. That is to say that the marriage will supersede the agreement.
However, you can choose to use the cohabitation agreement as the foundation for a pre- or post-nuptial agreement outlining the original points into a new format.
There are times where you may want to use the original cohabitation agreement as evidence during a divorce or separation of marriage to help inform an amicable financial settlement. This will be taken as advisory rather than a legally binding contract, due to the circumstance changes created by marriage.
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