UK cohabitation laws – your rights

There is a lot of confusion over cohabitation laws in the UK, with many people believing that cohabitation laws in England and Wales include some kind of ‘common-law marriage’. In fact, this is not the case.

Cohabitation laws: what does cohabitation mean and why does it matter?

When people talk about cohabiting couples, they’re referring to couples who live together but are not married.

Over the last few decades, more and more couples are choosing to move in together either before, or instead of, marriage.

This has led many to assume that there must be cohabitation laws which confer rights, similar to those of a married couple, onto those who choose to live together without getting married. In fact, cohabitation laws in England and Wales do no such thing.

Others assume that there are no cohabitation laws in any form, and moving in together would not affect either party’s legal rights at all. Again, this is not completely accurate.

If you are moving in together, it’s important to understand how your legal position will be affected and how you can ensure that you are both protected, should the relationship come to an end.

Cohabitation laws: the common-law marriage myth

Moving in together does not give a couple the same legal rights as if they were married. There are no cohabitation laws of this kind.

In England and Wales, there are no specific cohabitation laws designed to deal with what will happen to a cohabiting couple’s assets, should their relationship come to an end (as there are with married couples). As there are no cohabitation laws to call upon, in a dispute, other, often complex areas of law may come into play, which haven’t specifically been designed for a cohabitation situation, sometimes resulting in unpredictable outcomes.

What’s more, if one party dies, simply cohabiting with that partner does not entitle the other party to inherit.

Cohabitation laws: the family home

Unlike when a couple are married, if a couple are simply cohabiting and one party owns the family home, only the person who owns the house is entitled to live there. This can put the non-owning party in a difficult position if the relationship breaks down.

However, the other party may have some rights (a portion of money if the house is sold, for example) in certain circumstances, such as if the non-owning party contributed to the mortgage on the understanding that these payments would result in them having a share of the house.

Even when both parties in a cohabiting couple own the family home in joint names, there can be complications. For example, one may not be able to force the other one to sell the house unless a court order is obtained.

Cohabitation laws: consider a cohabitation agreement

Due to the lack of specifically designed cohabitation laws in England and Wales, we would recommend that any couple looking to move in together find out whether a cohabitation agreement would be appropriate for them.

Although cohabitation agreements won’t be right for everyone, they can help to reduce the likelihood of disputes, should the relationship come to an end in the future.