Cohabitation agreements
Cohabitation agreement solicitors
If you are unmarried and living with a partner or in a civil partnership, it’s important to protect your rights. Whether you’re cohabiting without marriage or outside of a civil partnership, safeguarding your assets is crucial—especially if you’ve invested years into the relationship and your home. Additionally, we understand the unique challenges cohabiting partners face regarding property, finances, and children, since the law treats these matters differently from married couples or those in civil partnerships.
How Our Solicitors Can Help
Our expert cohabitation agreement solicitors advise couples dealing with various cohabitation disputes involving property, children, assets, and maintenance. Furthermore, we help you put protections in place to secure your future should the relationship break down. If you’re planning to live with a partner, we can also prepare a cohabitation agreement that outlines financial arrangements in case you separate.
Unmarried couples often use cohabitation agreements to protect themselves if the relationship ends or one partner passes away. Since unmarried partners lack the same legal rights as married couples or civil partners, you are not entitled to your partner’s assets upon separation or death unless named in their will.
What is a cohabitation agreement
A cohabitation agreement is a document which records arrangements between you and a partner who you cohabit with. They are not legally enforceable, but they can be used to resolve disputes quickly and efficiently. A cohabitation agreement can cover how some issues should be dealt with, including:
Cohabitation disputes
Disputes between people living together—whether cohabiting couples or friends—are common. In these cases our experienced cohabitation dispute lawyers help resolve conflicts efficiently. Disagreements often arise when one person wants to leave a property they’ve financially contributed to but lack legal ownership. On the other hand, disputes also occur when one partner wishes to sell a jointly owned home.
In some situations, you may have gained beneficial ownership of the property. However, proving this in court can be difficult without a cohabitation agreement. Therefore, to avoid misunderstandings and potential disputes, it’s in everyone’s best interest to create a formal agreement from the beginning.
How we can help
If you wish to talk to one of our family solicitors about your cohabitation rights, or need help after the breakdown of a relationship, get in touch with our team today by calling us on 0333 323 5292, by filling out the enquiry form on this page and letting us know a suitable time to call you back.
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