Unmarried Couples

When you live together, or cohabit, you have different legal rights than if you were married or entered into a civil partnership. Despite popular belief, there is no such thing as a “common law marriage”.

Commonly, couples who live together but aren’t married have children, jointly own their own home and have joint savings and joint bank accounts.

When you separate, you will have questions about how to untangle financial matters. This can be a very complex area of law and our specialist team will be able to provide you with clear straight forward legal advice, including how to resolve your situation using out of court options such as collaborative law http://www.cflnorth.co.uk/, http://www.resolution.org.uk/collaborative/.

Cohabitation Agreements

As cohabiting couples have different legal rights to those that are married, it is often a very good idea to have a Cohabitation Agreement drafted which can set out in clear terms details of ownership of a home, responsibility and payment of the mortgage and bills, issues with regards to savings and pensions and in the unfortunate event of a relationship ending, who can remain living in the home and for how long.

These can be difficult conversations to have which often need expert legal advice and our specialist team can give you help and guidance should you want to consider entering into a Cohabitation Agreement. Please get in touch on 0191 297 0011.