Do unmarried couples have legal rights?

Many people think that unmarried couples who are living together have common law rights when splitting up. In England and Wales there are no common law rights, because couples who are not married or in a civil partnership are simply not recognised in the eyes of the law.

Cohabitation on the Rise

When couples live together but aren't married or in a civil partnership, this is called cohabiting. Cohabiting couples don't have any legal recognition in England and Wales, but not all cohabiting couples realise this and may not be aware of what happens to assets if they separated.

Neither person in a cohabiting relationship would be entitled to financial support or a share in the other person's assets if the relationship fails. And if one person died, the other wouldn't automatically be entitled to inherit from them because cohabiting partners also aren't recognised under inheritance laws.

The number of cohabiting couples in the UK has been rising steadily in recent years. There are around 3.6 million couples cohabiting in the UK currently and cohabitation is the fastest growing family type in the UK.

Although cohabiting couples aren't legally recognised, there are steps that can be taken to protect assets in the event of separation.

Legal protection for unmarried couples

One way to ensure that both of you do have legal protection if you break up is to put a cohabitation agreement in place.

This is a legal document in which you can set out who would get what in the event of a separation, as well as agree matters such as who is responsible for what during the relationship. For cohabiting couples with children, a cohabitation agreement can also make accommodations for them.

A cohabitation agreement puts everything in writing, so there's less chance of uncertainty or disagreements further down the line. As a cohabitation agreement is drawn up in advance, the terms are more likely to be reasonable than if a couple waits until the relationship has already broken down before having these conversations.