Unmarried Couples Rights / Cohabiting couples

Many people prefer to live together in long term committed relationships without getting married. However, when it comes to separation it is important to realise that the legal rights afforded to cohabiting partners are very different from those of married couples.

“Common Law Husband” & “Common Law Wife”

Many people believe that if they live together that they will gain certain rights by being a ‘common law wife’ or ‘common law husband’. In English law there is no basis in law for this. There is effectively no such thing as a ‘common law wife’ or husband.

Unmarried Couples Finances

The law treats you as two separate individuals. This means assets such as bank accounts, savings or investments will remain in the ownership of whoever’s name they are in. Assets held in joint names will generally be divided equally.

Normally you cannot claim ongoing financial maintenance from a partner in the same way that a married person may be able to do so.

However, if there are children from the relationship, then the parent the children live with will be able to claim child support maintenance for the children.

Please see our page of child maintenance for more information.

Unmarried Couples Property

Many couple will own a home together. If the property is held in joint names then the asset will usually be divided equally between the couple. Often, one person is able to buy the other out of the property by paying for the half share of the equity in the property. If this is not possible or desirable then the property will have to be sold so that each partner can retrieve his or her share of the asset.

This becomes a particular issue when the person whose name the property is not held in has contributed financially to the property by means of mortgage payments, purchase deposit or paying for improvements to the property. In some cases there may have been some form of agreement between the couple that the property was intended to be jointly owned even though the legalities of changing the property title were not undertaken.

In this situation it is up to the person, in conjunction with their solicitor, to justify that they are entitled to a share of the property. This will often involve going to court. This is a complex area of law which requires a family solicitor with experience of this type of situation. Please contact us for a consultation where we can assess your circumstances and advise you as to a possible way forward.

Unmarried Couples Children

The most important issue to resolve when a couple separate is that of who the children will live with and when they will have contact with the other parent.

Of course it is important for both parents to have regular and substantial content with their children, but in cases of unmarried couples the rights, in particular of fathers can be more complex.

Please see our pages on child living arrangements, child maintenance and unmarried fathers rights for more detailed information, or contact us for a consultation.