New data has recently been published by the office for National Statistics regarding the makeup of families and households across the UK and cohabitating couples are one of the fastest growing demographics in the UK. In 2020, 18% of couples that lived together were cohabiting rather than married or in a civil partnership.
It is important to understand your legal rights in a cohabiting relationship. Whilst the numbers of cohabiting relationships have increased, the law has not changed. Many people believe that living together for a prolonged period results in a ‘common law marriage’ however, this is untrue. Despite unmarried parents having a legal responsibility for their children regardless of if they were previously married, there is no provision for financial support where there is property or assets involved. If you are not married then you have little protection, and few legal rights if you were to split up. Therefore, it is important to consider what would happen if you and your partner split.
Unmarried and buying together:
There are two ways to own a home when there is more than one name on the deed as joint tenants or as tenants in common. If you and your partner own a property as joint tenants, you both act as a single owner which means you both have equal rights to the whole property, if your partner was to die the entire property passes to you and vice versa and if you wish to re-mortgage the property you must do so as a whole.
If you own the property as tenants in common this means you own a defined share of the property. This method of ownership is becoming more common with couples who tend to offer different amounts of money into the property purchase. As tenants in common you are able to separately sell your share of the property, pass your share to whoever you wish in your will and if there is no will it will likely go to your next of kin. However, you only own and have an interest in, your defined share of the property.
Unmarried and renting together:
It is common that when couples rent a property together, they have a joint tenancy which means both names are on the agreement. In this instance, both partners have an equal right to stay in the property. However, if your name is not on the property then you have no right to stay in the property. Although, if there are children involved and you are the primary carer, it may be possible for you to apply to the court and have the tenancy transferred to your name.
Other assets:
If you are unmarried, neither partner can have access to any assets such as life insurance or pensions if they are not named as the holder or are not married to the holder. If you have a joint account, you will both have equal rights to the money and it is advised that the money is split equally followed by the closing of the account.
As cohabiting couples do not have the same legal rights as married couples, a cohabitation agreement may be a sensible option to consider. A cohabitation agreement is a legally binding document used to set out what will happen to finances, property and children if a break up of a relationship was to occur.
At Dylan Nair, we are here to help. Give us a call on 01772 494366 to begin the next steps on gaining the security you need in your relationship.