Your Legal Rights as an Unmarried Partner
A guide to your legal rights as a cohabitee
The Labour government has pledged to reform cohabitation rights but unmarried partners will have to wait for the next King's speech to see if new legislation is forthcoming. In the meantime, unmarried partners will need to grapple with the complicated laws in England and Wales on cohabitee rights.
In this article, our Family Law Solicitors explain the current law on rights as a cohabitee.
Online and London Family Law Solicitors
For family law legal advice call the expert London family lawyers at OTS Solicitors on 0203 959 9123 or complete our online enquiry form.
Our lawyers speak Arabic, Armenian, Farsi, French/Mauritian Creole, Spanish, Tamil Tagalog/Ilonggo, Urdu/Punjabi
Your rights
Your rights as a cohabitee come from a mix of property, trust and family law but the family law aspect only really applies if you have dependent children with your partner.
If you are married or in a civil partnership there are only two pieces of legislation meaning that divorce and civil partnership financial settlement law is simpler. If you are in a married relationship or civil partnership the law gives the family court judge discretion to make an order that is fair to both the husband and wife or to both civil partners after taking into account a range of statutory factors. The factors include age, health, length of the relationship and your contributions both financially and as a homemaker.
With the emphasis on fairness and court discretion, you would think that the law in England and Wales would equally protect you if you are in a relationship but without the security of a marriage certificate. It doesn’t and that’s why reformers are clamouring for change to protect cohabitees and their children.
Helping yourself
Knowing that cohabitation law needs urgent reform most Family Law Solicitors strongly recommend that cohabitees protect themselves. If you don’t then you risk lengthy and potentially expensive court proceedings if you split up from your ex and need to ask a family court judge to decide on how your assets are split using property and trust law.
You can help yourself with the assistance of Family Law Solicitors by signing a cohabitation agreement when you form a new relationship or when you buy a property with a partner or when financial circumstances change. The cohabitation agreement should be bespoke to you and your circumstances.
Signing a cohabitation agreement
Many unmarried partners think you can only sign an agreement when they are in a new relationship or that you only need an agreement if you are buying property together. Both of those assumptions are wrong.
If you are in an unmarried relationship with your partner and they move into your house they could potentially claim a share in your property if you later separate from them. This type of claim can be prevented by your partner signing a cohabitation agreement saying that they don’t have a right to live at the property if you no longer invite them to do so and that they can't go to court and claim a share in the equity of the property.
Legal advice on a cohabitation agreement
A Family Law Solicitor can draw up an agreement that reflects how you want your relationship to work. For example, if your partner has received an inheritance that they want to use to pay for a new kitchen or extension it would not be unreasonable to put in the cohabitation agreement that they are entitled to a share in the equity in the property if it is sold or that you will buy out their share of the equity by using an agreed method of valuing it. Alternatively, if your partner is paying the mortgage on your property, is it fair that their contribution is recorded and an agreement reached on what they will get back if you split up?
You may think that agreeing on a figure to pay your cohabitee would be straightforward if your relationship ends as you will be able to work out how much they paid towards a new kitchen or bathroom or paid towards your mortgage. However, receipts can be lost and disputes arise over the length of mortgage payments. It can then be hard work to track down builders for receipts or to go through old bank statements for evidence of mortgage payments. Equally, you may not want to agree on a fixed figure in case house prices fall and you are left out of pocket. Negotiating a percentage figure of the equity may be a fairer solution but to protect yourself you need the agreement recorded in your cohabitation document.
If you want to keep things very simple and not want to have to pay your partner anything you may want your cohabitation agreement to say that your partner has no financial or beneficial interest in your property and that they will only get an interest in the property if you later enter a new formal deed of trust or a cohabitation agreement. This type of agreement will protect you from spurious claims but if you have a child with your partner, they may still be able to bring a claim for housing for the child under Schedule One of the Children Act 1989.
Splitting up as a cohabitee without a cohabitation agreement
If you are unmarried and you don’t have a cohabitation agreement you will need legal advice on your rights. Your rights and your partner’s rights will depend on whether you have children under the age of 18 or not. Even if you have children together the law is not generous if you are an unmarried partner.
If you have dependent children a partner (or you ) may be able to claim:
- Child support
- Lump sum to pay for an item the child needs
- Housing provision while the child is growing up – the house does not belong to the child and the partner who provides the house gets it back when the child is 18 but the Schedule One claim provides housing for the child and the partner with the care of the child during the child’s growing up years but it is temporary in nature unlike in a divorce financial settlement
If you don’t have dependent children from an unmarried relationship then solicitor negotiations or court proceedings will look at how any jointly owned property should be split using property and trust law and principles. If your partner is not on the title deeds to the property, they could argue that they have a non-legal or beneficial interest in the property using trust and property law principles. For example, because they contributed money or money’s worth. An example of a money’s worth claim is doing DIY on a property, such as landscaping or installing a new bathroom.
Helping you with your cohabitation agreement or resolving a cohabitation dispute
The Family Lawyers at OTS Solicitors in London can help you understand your rights as an unmarried partner and draw up a cohabitation agreement. If you are splitting up, we can negotiate an agreement on your behalf or represent you in a property or trust law claim or in Schedule One court proceedings.
Online and London Family Law Solicitors
For family law legal advice call the expert London family lawyers at OTS Solicitors on 0203 959 9123 or complete our online enquiry form.
Our lawyers speak Arabic, Armenian, Farsi, French/Mauritian Creole, Spanish, Tamil Tagalog/Ilonggo, Urdu/Punjabi
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