Cohabitation Property Agreements: A Guide for Unmarried Couples | LegalDocuments.co.uk

What this document is

A Cohabitation Property Agreement is a written contract between two people who live together as a couple but are not married or in a civil partnership. Its job is to record how the two of you handle property, money, and shared financial responsibilities during the relationship, and what you have agreed should happen if you separate.

The common misconception in the UK is that long-term cohabitees become 'common law' spouses with automatic rights. That isn't the case. If you split up, the courts generally look at strict property law principles (such as who is named on the title and what financial contributions were made) rather than the fairness-based approach used for married couples under the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973.

That can produce harsh outcomes, especially where one partner has paid more towards a home held in the other's sole name. By agreeing things in advance, you replace guesswork and potential litigation with a document both of you have signed up to.

It can cover the home, joint accounts, pensions, debts, furniture, vehicles, pets, and contributions to bills, as narrow or as wide as you need.

How to use this document

1. Have an honest conversation first. Before drafting anything, sit down together and talk through what you each own now, what you expect to contribute going forward, and what feels fair if the relationship ended. This conversation is often harder than the paperwork, but skipping it tends to produce an agreement that doesn't reflect either person's real intentions. 2. List every asset, liability, and contribution. Work through property, savings, investments, vehicles, valuable belongings, debts, and regular outgoings. Be specific about who owns what at the start of the agreement and how future purchases will be treated. Clarity at this stage prevents arguments later about whether something was joint or individual. 3. Decide how the home will be held. If you own a property together, the agreement should reflect whether you hold it as joint tenants or tenants in common, and in what shares. If only one of you is on the title, the agreement can record any beneficial interest the other has, this is particularly important where both are contributing financially. 4. Agree what happens on separation. Set out how property will be divided, whether one party can buy the other out of the home, how long either person has to move out, and how joint debts will be settled. You can also address spousal-style support, although unlike divorce there is no automatic right to ongoing maintenance between cohabitees. 5. Sign properly and keep it under review. Both of you should read the final document carefully, ideally after taking independent legal input, and sign it in front of witnesses. Life changes, children, a house move, a new job, an inheritance, so diarise a review every few years or after any major event to make sure the agreement still reflects reality.

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