Cohabitation Rights in the UK: Do they exist?

What are cohabitation rights?

In this article our cohabitation solicitors explain cohabiting couples’ separation rights. Living together as an unmarried couple is increasingly common in the UK, yet many people are unaware of how few legal rights and protections they have. We look at the rights, or lack of rights, of cohabiting couples in England and Wales, the reforms currently being considered, and how a cohabitation agreement can protect you.

If you would prefer to listen, family lawyer Vasoulla Constantinou took part in a podcast in which cohabitation rights are clearly outlined in a lively discussion. Listen on Spotify.

What is cohabitation?

Cohabitation means two people living together in a relationship without being married or in a civil partnership. It includes same-sex and opposite-sex couples. There is no such thing as a “common law marriage” in England and Wales, however long you have lived together, so cohabiting couples do not have the same legal rights and protections as married couples or civil partners.

Rights of cohabiting couples: property and finances

If a cohabiting relationship ends, there is no automatic right to a share of the other person’s property or assets, even after many years together. By contrast, married couples and civil partners benefit from matrimonial home rights, which protect a non-owning spouse’s right to live in the family home. That protection does not exist for cohabitees.

This can be particularly harsh where one partner has contributed financially but is not named on the deeds. For example, if one partner owns the home in their sole name and the other has paid the mortgage for years, the legal owner holds the rights to the property and the other partner can be asked to leave.

The lack of rights goes beyond the home. On separation, cohabitees have no automatic claim to each other’s business assets, savings, investments or pensions, and no right to claim maintenance for themselves. This can leave a former cohabitee in a very precarious financial position.

What can go wrong: an example

Imagine a couple, John and Debbie, who are expecting their first child. John owns his own house, so they decide to live there together. Debbie pays half the mortgage and contributes to the upkeep of the house, treating it as the family home. Ten years later the relationship breaks down and John asks Debbie to leave. Despite her contributions, Debbie has no automatic right to a share of the property and no right to a financial settlement of the kind a spouse could claim. She may be able to claim child maintenance and make a claim for the benefit of their child, but that depends on their circumstances.

Beneficial interest in property

A beneficial interest is a financial stake in a property even if you are not the legal owner. It can arise from contributions to the purchase price, mortgage payments or other investment in the property. Without a written agreement, however, proving a beneficial interest is difficult. Verbal agreements carry little weight in court when it comes down to one person’s word against the other’s, and the court will need persuasive evidence before it recognises an interest.

Unlike marriage or civil partnership, cohabitation does not create automatic rights. That is why it is advisable for cohabiting couples to put a cohabitation agreement, and where they own property together a declaration of trust, in place.

Cohabitation agreements

A cohabitation agreement sets out how a couple’s property and finances will be dealt with if they separate. It can also cover practical arrangements while you live together. If it is properly prepared, with each of you having independent legal advice and full financial disclosure, it can be treated as a binding contract, and the courts will usually give it significant weight. It is important to take legal advice so that the agreement is fair and enforceable.

Children and claims under Schedule 1

When it comes to children, both parents have a legal duty to support them financially, whether or not they were married. If the relationship ends, arrangements for the children and child maintenance will need to be agreed.

An unmarried parent can also make a claim for the benefit of a child under Schedule 1 to the Children Act 1989. This can include the right for the child, and the parent caring for them, to live in a property. The purpose is to protect the child’s welfare by giving them a stable home. When making a claim, it is important to show the child’s connection to the property and why remaining there is in their best interests, including factors such as school and support networks.

Any right to occupy a property under Schedule 1 usually lasts only until the child reaches 18 or finishes full-time education. At that point the property normally reverts to the legal owner.

How to protect yourself as a cohabiting couple

Make a cohabitation agreement. As explained above, this is the clearest way to record what you have agreed.

Record how you own your home. If you buy jointly, the starting point is that you share the property equally unless you record different shares in a declaration of trust. If you contribute unequally, a declaration of trust avoids disputes later.

Make a will. Without a will, a cohabiting partner has no automatic right to inherit.

Consider marriage or a civil partnership. Civil partnerships are available to both same-sex and opposite-sex couples, and give similar legal rights and protections to marriage, including rights relating to property, finances and children.

Cohabitation law reform: where things stand

Cohabitation is the fastest-growing family type in the UK. The proportion of people living as cohabiting couples rose from 20.6% in 2011 to 24.3% in 2021, and more than 3.5 million couples now live together without being married. Yet the law in England and Wales has not kept pace. Scotland already gives cohabiting couples limited rights to make claims when they separate; England and Wales do not.

A Cohabitation Rights Bill was introduced in the House of Lords proposing that couples who had lived together for three years, or had a child together, should be able to apply for a financial settlement if the relationship broke down and should have inheritance rights under the intestacy rules. It never became law, and in November 2022 the then government rejected the House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee’s recommendations for better protection for cohabiting couples.

In June 2026 the government published a consultation, A fairer end to relationships, which ran from 5 June to 14 August 2026. It seeks views on a new statutory framework of rights and protections for eligible cohabitants when they separate, and on giving cohabitants rights to inherit when a partner dies without a will.

These proposals are not law. The government is considering the responses, and any changes would need legislation before they take effect. Until then, the existing law applies.

Cohabitation agreements are highly recommended

Whatever happens with reform, a cohabitation agreement remains the best protection for cohabiting couples today. It may not seem romantic, but it can bring stability to a relationship because both of you understand your rights and responsibilities. As Vasoulla Constantinou explains: “Before even seeing a lawyer, couples should sit down and agree on who owns what and how their assets should be divided in the event of separation. One partner then gets their lawyer to draw up a cohabitation agreement which is sent to the other party, ideally to their own lawyer. Once both parties are satisfied with the agreement, it can be witnessed and signed.”

If you are living together or planning to, contact our cohabitation solicitors on 020 8889 3319 or send us an enquiry.