Many couples, like our Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his partner Carrie Symonds, opt to live together without marrying. In fact, approximately 3.4 million people in the UK now choose cohabitation over marriage. However, it raises questions about whether these individuals are aware of the potential challenges they may encounter if the relationship ends.
Cohabiting couples often share similar responsibilities and commitments as married or civil partnership couples, such as raising children, owning property together, splitting household expenses, and incurring joint debts. Despite these similarities, cohabiting couples have distinct legal rights that differ significantly from those of married couples or civil partners.
Cohabitees lack legal rights
Cohabitants do not acquire rights solely based on living together. The common belief that cohabitation for a certain duration automatically grants financial rights is inaccurate.
For cohabitants, there is no inherent right to occupy a family home that you do not own simply because you are in a relationship, nor are there rights to claim financial support from your partner due to decisions like leaving a job to care for children or manage the household—advantages that are typically associated with marriage.
Disputes over property between cohabitants are resolved using property and trust law rather than family law. Cohabitants have access to a limited set of remedies, resulting in complex, uncertain, and costly legal proceedings that are not tailored for family situations.
Legal principles used to resolve cohabitee disputes
Similar to married couples going through divorce, when cohabitants separate, they must address key issues like the family home, bills, mortgage payments, and ensuring financial support for the children. In some cases, one partner owns the home while the other does not. In other scenarios, both partners jointly own the property but have differing preferences—one may want to sell, while the other wants to remain.
Other assets like household contents, vehicles, savings, and debts also need resolution. However, the legal rights concerning family property for cohabitants differ significantly from those of divorcing married couples. The law does not presume an equal 50/50 division as a starting point. Instead, it focuses on factual circumstances and legal principles, such as who holds the title deeds, any beneficial interests established through promises, shared intentions, financial contributions, detrimental acts, and other intricate legal doctrines that require substantial evidence for substantiation.
Legal change needed to protect cohabitees
Since the introduction of the Matrimonial Causes Act in 1971, the legal framework governing the division of family assets, property, income, and debts has arguably lagged behind societal changes. Even 50 years after the enactment of this law, the options available to divorcing couples to ensure equitable sharing of family finances based on “needs and fairness” remain inaccessible to cohabiting couples.
I often receive calls from clients who are separating from long-term partners after decades of cohabitation, only to find themselves exiting the relationship with significantly fewer financial resources compared to divorcing couples who have been together for much shorter periods. This disparity underscores the challenges and limitations within the legal system for cohabitants seeking fair resolutions in matters of family finances.
Options for cohabitees to protect their financial position
Many cohabiting couples are unaware of a valuable option to avoid uncertainty and expense by seeking legal advice from a family lawyer at the outset, particularly when purchasing a family home or deciding to cohabit.
Thoughtful drafting of property deeds can reflect your wishes, and a cohabitation agreement (also known as a cohabitee contract or deed) can establish a legally binding framework for use in the event of a relationship breakup. Such an agreement can help regulate asset division in ways not covered by current laws for cohabiting couples. These documents can be highly detailed, addressing a wide range of issues that arise upon separation. While there may be an initial cost to draft and execute these agreements at the beginning of your relationship, they could ultimately save you significantly more in the event of a separation.
It leads me to wonder whether Boris and Carrie have such an agreement in place. Given Boris’s complex family responsibilities, this could indeed be a prudent consideration.
