Cohabitation Agreements | Heritage Park Family Law
If you’re living with your partner without being married or in a civil partnership, you may be surprised to learn that you have very few automatic legal rights – regardless of how long you’ve been together or whether you have children. A cohabitation agreement can provide essential protection for your home, your finances, and your future.
At Heritage Park Family Law, we help unmarried couples create clear, legally sound agreements that protect both partners and provide certainty about property ownership, financial responsibilities, and what would happen if the relationship were to end.
A cohabitation agreement (sometimes called a ‘living together agreement’) is a legal document that sets out the financial arrangements between two people who live together but are not married or in a civil partnership. It records your agreements about property ownership, how you will share household expenses, what belongs to whom, and how things would be divided if you were to separate.
Think of it as a practical roadmap for your shared life together – one that protects both of you by putting your intentions clearly in writing whilst you’re getting along well, rather than leaving matters to chance or dispute later.
Many people believe that living together for a long time creates a ‘common law marriage’ with similar legal rights to married couples. This is a widespread misconception. In England and Wales, there is no such thing as a common law marriage – the concept simply does not exist in law.
This means that if your relationship ends, you have no automatic right to:
Without a cohabitation agreement, if your relationship breaks down, disputes about property must be resolved through the civil courts under the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996 (often called TOLATA). These proceedings can be expensive, time-consuming, and emotionally draining – and the outcome is far from certain.
A cohabitation agreement can address whatever matters are important to you as a couple. Common provisions include:
If you’re buying property with your partner, you may have heard about declarations of trust. Understanding the difference between these documents is important.
A declaration of trust (also called a deed of trust) specifically records who owns a property and in what proportions. It is a property-focused document that deals with beneficial ownership – particularly important when you’re contributing unequal amounts to a property purchase or when the legal ownership doesn’t reflect your intended shares.
A cohabitation agreement is broader in scope. It can include provisions about property ownership but also covers your day-to-day financial arrangements, household responsibilities, and what should happen across all aspects of your shared life if you separate.
In many cases, couples benefit from having both documents – a declaration of trust to clearly record property ownership, and a cohabitation agreement to address everything else. We can advise you on which approach best suits your circumstances.
The best time to create a cohabitation agreement is before you move in together or buy property jointly. However, it’s never too late to put one in place. Common trigger points include:
Even if you’ve been living together for years without any agreement, creating one now can provide valuable protection and peace of mind for the future.
Cohabitation agreements are legally binding contracts provided they are properly drafted and executed. For a cohabitation agreement to carry full legal weight, certain requirements should be met:
When these requirements are met, courts will generally uphold a cohabitation agreement as clear evidence of the parties’ intentions. This can be invaluable in avoiding costly disputes if the relationship later ends.
Without a cohabitation agreement, if your relationship breaks down and you cannot agree on how to divide your property and finances, your only option may be to bring a claim under TOLATA – the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996.
TOLATA proceedings are civil court matters (not family court proceedings like divorce). To succeed in claiming an interest in property owned in your partner’s name, you would typically need to prove:
These claims can be difficult to prove, expensive to pursue, and uncertain in outcome. The general rule in civil proceedings is that the unsuccessful party pays the other side’s legal costs – so the financial risk can be significant.
A well-drafted cohabitation agreement avoids all of this uncertainty by recording your intentions clearly from the outset.
The cost of a cohabitation agreement depends on the complexity of your circumstances and how many issues need to be addressed. At Heritage Park Family Law, we offer fixed-fee cohabitation agreements wherever possible, so you know exactly what you’ll pay from the start.
We believe that the cost of a properly drafted agreement is a modest investment compared to the potential cost of disputes later. TOLATA proceedings can easily cost tens of thousands of pounds, with no guaranteed outcome – and that’s before considering the emotional toll of contested litigation.
If you have children together, a cohabitation agreement can include provisions about financial support that go beyond what the Child Maintenance Service would order. This might include agreements about:
However, it’s important to understand that courts always retain discretion over children’s welfare under the Children Act 1989. Whilst financial agreements about children can be included in a cohabitation agreement, they cannot override the court’s power to make orders it considers appropriate for children’s needs.
If you have children from a previous relationship, a cohabitation agreement can also help protect assets you want to preserve for them.
Life circumstances change, and your cohabitation agreement should change with them. We recommend reviewing your agreement:
Keeping your agreement up to date ensures it remains relevant and enforceable.
Isn’t suggesting a cohabitation agreement unromantic?
We understand this concern, but we’d suggest quite the opposite. Making a cohabitation agreement shows that you care enough about your partner to protect them, regardless of what the future holds. It’s similar to taking out home insurance – you hope you’ll never need it, but it’s sensible to have the protection in place.
Having honest conversations about finances and expectations early in a relationship can actually strengthen your partnership by ensuring you’re both on the same page about important matters.
We’ve been together for 20 years – surely we have some rights by now?
Unfortunately, the length of your relationship makes no difference to your legal rights as an unmarried couple. You could live together for 50 years and still have no automatic claim to property in your partner’s sole name, no right to maintenance, and no guaranteed inheritance rights. This is why a cohabitation agreement is so important, regardless of how long you’ve been together.
We own our house jointly – do we still need an agreement?
If you own property jointly, without a trust deed setting out your interest your shares are assumed to be 50/40. A cohabitation agreement would specify your shares and can also address how you’ll share household expenses, what happens to any joint savings, how you’ll divide furniture and possessions, and what process you’ll follow if you decide to sell. It can also deal with matters beyond property, such as financial support and children’s expenses.
What happens to our cohabitation agreement if we get married?
Marriage fundamentally changes your legal relationship and the rights you have against each other. If you marry or enter into a civil partnership a cohabitation agreement would ideally be replaced with a pre-nuptial or post-nuptial agreement. We can advise you on this if marriage becomes part of your plans.
Can we write our own cohabitation agreement?
Whilst it’s technically possible to create your own agreement using templates available online, we would strongly advise against this. DIY agreements often contain ambiguous wording, miss important issues, or fail to meet the technical requirements for enforceability. If your agreement isn’t properly drafted, it may be worth little more than the paper it’s written on when you actually need it.
Professional legal advice ensures your agreement is comprehensive, clear, and legally robust – protecting you properly when it matters most.
My partner owns the house but I pay towards the mortgage – don’t I have a claim?
This is a common situation, but your position may be weaker than you think. Making mortgage payments doesn’t automatically give you an ownership interest in the property. Without a written agreement or declaration of trust, you would need to prove a common intention that your contributions would give you a share – which can be difficult and expensive to establish through court proceedings.
A cohabitation agreement can clearly record whether your mortgage contributions are intended to create an ownership interest, or whether they are simply your contribution to household expenses (similar to paying rent).
What if my partner refuses to sign a cohabitation agreement?
If your partner is reluctant to discuss a cohabitation agreement, it may be worth exploring why. Sometimes concerns stem from misunderstanding what the agreement involves. Having a conversation – perhaps with the help of independent legal advice for both of you – can often address reservations.
If your partner absolutely refuses to consider any form of agreement, this is important information in itself. You may need to think carefully about the financial risks you’re taking by living together without protection.
Does a cohabitation agreement affect benefits or tax?
A cohabitation agreement itself doesn’t affect your benefit entitlements or tax position – these are determined by your actual living arrangements rather than any agreement you’ve made. If you live together as a couple, you’re already treated as such for means-tested benefits and certain tax purposes, regardless of whether you have a written agreement.
Heritage Park Family Law is led by Lisa Smith, a specialist family law barrister and all our lawyers are highly experienced specialist family lawyers.
We understand that discussing financial matters and ‘what-ifs’ can feel uncomfortable. Our approach is supportive and non-judgmental, focused on helping you achieve clarity and protection for both partners.
Whether you’re about to move in together, buying your first home as a couple, or have been living together for years without any formal agreement, we can help you understand your options and create appropriate protection.
Heritage Park Family Law is based in Ampthill, Bedfordshire, and we help clients across the UK with cohabitation agreements and other family law matters.
