Living Together/Cohabitation Agreements
What is a Living Together/Cohabitation Agreement?
A Living Together Agreement or Cohabitation Agreement is entered into by both of you to regulate your affairs in relation to money, property, and can also cover children issues, during the time that you are living together and can also deal with what will happen if you split up.
How is a Living Together/Cohabitation Agreement put together?
Each of you needs independent legal advice, but the negotiations and discussions are conducted in a friendly and non-hostile way. Negotiations can either be dealt with through correspondence or at roundtable face to face meetings with each of you and your Solicitors present.
What are the benefits of a Cohabitation Agreement?
The Agreement provides clarity.
You should consider:
- Who will have what shares in relation to any property which you are going to live in together;
- Who will be paying the various outgoings and in what proportion;
- Who will own any items or contents bought for the property or other assets;
Difficult though it is, you ought to give some thought to what happens should the relationship break down and a separation takes place.
The agreement can govern such matters as the operation and closure of any joint accounts and deal with any joint liabilities. In relation to any jointly owned property, one of you might buy the other out, rather than having to sell.
Although you will need to review such an agreement on the birth of children, you should think very early on about who might be the main carer for the children, or will you both scale down your jobs to share the care.
What if we are already living together?
As long as both of you are willing to enter into an agreement it does not matter if you are already living together. Living Together/Cohabitation Agreements can be negotiated and entered into at any time during cohabitation.
What are the risks if I do not have one?
- Confusion and misunderstanding;
- Hostility and expensive legal arguments;
- Expensive and protracted legal proceedings or protracted negotiations;
- Uncertainty and risk should matters not be settled and the Court needs to intervene;
- Believing that you may have rights that you do not, or not realising that a claim might be brought against you or against your property.
What are the costs?
The costs of putting together a Living Together/Cohabitation Agreement will vary depending on the complexity of the assets and issues involved and also the time spent in negotiating the terms of the agreement. Your initial meeting is always FREE.
Will I have to make a financial disclosure of my financial position?
Yes, in order for a Living Together/Cohabitation Agreement to be effective both of you should make a disclosure of your financial position.
How do I move things forward?
If you would like to discuss Living Together or Cohabitation Agreements, please call us at Freephone 0800 316 4434 or locally at 01252 361 200 or email us.
Additionally you can use our easy “How Can We Help” service. All you need to do is fill in the form on the right-hand side of the page with the relevant details and we will contact you promptly and discretely by your preferred method. We’re here to help you
One of our Family Law solicitors will be able to provide you with clear and concise advice on preparing a Living together/Cohabitation agreement for you.
As a final point, it is worth noting that we advise people who live together to make Wills. Without a Will, any assets owned by you will go to your next of kin and not to the person you live with. Click here for more information on Wills.
