A Cohabitation Agreement is a contract that establishes the rights and responsibilities of a couple that lives together but is not married or in a registered civil partnership. 

Use this contract to outline matters such as:

• Household expenses and shared finances
• Property and asset ownership
• Debt responsibilities
• Spousal maintenance if the relationship ends

A Cohabitation Agreement is also known as a relationship agreement or a living together agreement.

If you’re living with your long-term partner but aren’t sure if you’ll get married or register your partnership, a Cohabitation Agreement is a crucial document to have. 

This is because unmarried couples in the UK are not entitled to the same rights as married people or civil partners. Thus, a cohabiting couple that breaks up must work harder to prove any entitlements. 

Obtaining a Cohabitation Agreement helps people in committed, long-term relationships protect their interests if their relationship ends. Plus, clarifying property rights and financial obligations when you first move in together helps avoid disputes later.

Both of these documents can specify shared and separate property. However, couples create a Prenuptial Agreement to be valid specifically during and after marriage. 

Yes! Use LawDepot’s Cohabitation Agreement template to write a contract for your living arrangement. 

Of course, each partner should get independent legal advice to ensure the agreement is fair. However, you can save time and money by drafting this document yourself and bringing it to a solicitor for a quick review.

To complete our questionnaire and draft your Cohabitation Agreement, be prepared with the following information:

1. General details

You’ll need to provide some basic information, such as:

• Your and your partner’s names
• Where you live
• When you started (or will start) living together 

2. Expenses

If you’d like, you can specify how you’ll divide household expenses. For example, you can:

• Pay all or some of the expenses from a joint account
• Split the expenses by percentage, type of expense, or according to each partner’s income

3. Assets

You can list the assets that each party owns and keeps separate. By doing this, there will be no question of who owns what if the relationship ends.

On top of that, you may list your current shared assets (e.g., a vehicle or your house). Generally, you can divide shared assets:

• Equally between the parties 
• According to each partner’s financial contributions
• By paying half of the asset’s value to one party so the other can have sole ownership

You can also write specific terms for dividing shared assets. In this case, our questionnaire gives you tips for drafting this term.

4. Debt

Just like your assets, it’s crucial to document any shared or separate debts. For instance, if one party already owes a debt, they might specify that they will retain responsibility for repaying this debt on their own. Otherwise, you might want to state that responsibility for all shared debts will be divided equally between the partners.

5. Children

If you have dependent children from a past relationship or with each other, it’s crucial to name them in your Cohabitation Agreement. If you separate, the document clearly states that any parental rights and responsibilities will be governed by the laws of your jurisdiction. 

6. Final details

Consider the legal rights that cohabiting couples miss out on and address them in your Cohabitation Agreement if you’d like more control over your relationship. 

For example, cohabiting couples are not entitled to maintenance unless they specify so in their contract. If your terms are fair and agreeable, courts will typically enforce them.

When it comes to real estate, the property rights typically remain with the person whose name is on the property title or Tenancy Agreement.

However, like a Prenuptial Agreement before marriage, you can use a Cohabitation Agreement to help determine property ownership upon separation. Couples typically use this agreement to state an equal interest and entitlement to any shared property (not just real estate) gained in their relationship. 

If they break up, authorities will generally respect and enforce the agreement. Without this document, cohabiting couples will likely need to gather ample evidence to assert any claims in court.

Property rights when your partner dies

Without certain legal documents in place, cohabiting couples won’t have any automatic entitlements to a share of their partner’s property when they die.

Generally, when two or more people own real estate together, they can do so as tenants-in-common or joint tenants.

If a cohabiting couple owns the property as joint tenants and one partner dies, their share automatically goes to the remaining owner. However, if they are tenants-in-common, one partner’s share will count towards their estate when they die. In this case, authorities will distribute property according to the deceased’s Last Will. If there’s no Will, courts refer to intestate succession law.

Courts will recognize and enforce a valid Last Will and Testament that designates property rights and other inheritances to a specific person—regardless of their legal relationship status with the deceased.

Without a Last Will, you may need to apply to the court for an award from your deceased partner’s estate. In this case, a Cohabitation Agreement would act as evidence to support your claim.

A Cohabitation Agreement cannot determine future child arrangements such as custody, access, or maintenance payments. 

However, you should think about parental responsibilities when drafting your document.

If a person has parental responsibility for a child, they’re accountable for fulfilling the legal, financial, and familial obligations related to that child’s well-being. While a child’s birth mother always has parental responsibility, an unmarried father doesn’t automatically gain the same legal relationship status.

If you already have children or plan to have them in the future, consider if both partners want to claim parental responsibility or commit to legal adoption.

Yes, when executed correctly, courts will generally uphold and enforce your Cohabitation Agreement. 

Like any contract, certain elements must be present for the document to be legally binding:

• Offer and acceptance: You and your partner create an offer when you negotiate the cohabitation terms. When you both sign the document, you signal your acceptance.
• Consideration: Each party must exchange something of value and benefits from the agreement. In this case, you and your partner benefit from your living arrangement and spousal rights.
• Mutuality: You must have honest intentions to enter into the contract.
• Legality: None of the contract terms can break the law. For example, an agreement where the division of assets/debts only applies when one person does all the housework (and if they don’t, the other gets all the assets and no debt) would likely make the agreement unenforceable. This would be illegal as it would likely qualify as coercion.
• Capacity: You and your partner must be legal adults with mental capacity.

If someone wants to contest your Cohabitation Agreement, the onus will be on them to prove how it’s invalid in court. 

Remember to review and update the document every few years so it continues to reflect your current wishes.

You’re not legally required to notarize your agreement in the United Kingdom. However, doing so helps verify the parties’ signatures and their intent to create a contract. 

On the other hand, courts often require each party to consult a solicitor to ensure the document is fair. LawDepot’s template includes a certificate of independent legal advice for a solicitor to sign after reviewing the document. 

You’ll also need at least one or two witnesses to sign the agreement.