If you and your partner are not married are you aware that:

• You get no rights in property merely by living together, no matter for how long?  There is no such thing as common law marriage?

• When you buy or lease a house or flat you can spell out your shares, rights and obligations quite simply, in legally binding form?

• You can make legally binding promises to each other about such things as mortgage repayments, bills, life insurance and pension provision and wills? 

If you don’t want to get married or maybe you do, but just not yet and although you trust your partner you would still like that peace of mind and security that comes of being absolutely sure of your position, then the way to solve this is by entering into a cohabitation agreement with your partner. 

A cohabitation agreement is a formal document, which we at Frearsons Family Law can draw up for you, in which you and your partner define your financial relationship with each other. This will be very influential in the case of any dispute in the future.

More and more unmarried couples are buying flats and houses to live in together. What many don’t realise is that just by having property “in joint names” or, worse still, in the name of one or other partner, they may be walking into trouble. Things often result in unpleasant, costly legal arguments about what they intended at the date of purchase. Therefore, when you buy property, it is very important to sign a cohabitation agreement or even better, a declaration of trust so it is clear who is entitled to what if such circumstances arise.