Legal services for unmarried couples
Our family law solicitors provide a range of legal services for unmarried couples living together - including cohabitation agreements, parental rights and legal rights if the relationship ends.
If you are unmarried and living together, you’re a cohabiting couple. Cohabiting couples don’t have the same rights as married couples, and this lack of legal rights can become an issue if you split up, have children or buy a house together. Our guide to the rights of unmarried couples living together covers more detail about the rights of unmarried people.
We can help you with:
- A cohabitation agreement which can help protect you and any children you have
If you separate, we can help:
- Sort out child custody
- agree child maintenance payments if you separate. Child maintenance is still payable if you were unmarried; here's some information about child maintenance and how it may be affected during Coronavirus.
- enforce child maintenance payments
- get parental responsibility (for example, if you’re an unmarried father)
- agree which parent the children should live with
- property claims for unmarried couples
- divide your financial assets fairly (e.g. house, car, business, land).
Call our specialist solicitors on 0808 231 1320
We’re here to help
If you want a lawyer to take a closer look at your situation, our family and divorce lawyers are based in:
- Cambridgeshire: Cambridge
- Essex: Brentwood, Chelmsford and Saffron Walden
- Hertfordshire: Bishop's Stortford and Royston
But we can help you wherever you are in England and Wales.
Unmarried couples FAQs
A cohabitation agreement is formal written agreement that describes what how an unmarried couple will regulate their financial arrangements while living together and what the arrangements would be if they were to separate. The agreement makes sorting such issues out more straightforward at the time of separation. It can cover practical issues such as:
- Finances and financial support
- Ownership of the family home
- Childcare arrangements
- Changes to your tenancy
- Division of contents such as furniture.
There is no legal concept of a ‘common law marriage.’ Living together without being married or in a civil partnership does not give you any particular rights around finances, property and children. A cohabitation can go some way to protecting you. If you think a cohabitation agreement could be for you, talk to one of our friendly family law solicitors.
TOLATA is the acronym for the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996 (TOLATA), the Act under which the Courts have the power to resolve property and land ownership disputes. If you are living together when you are not married or in a civil partnership, this is the law that will be applied to your claims to the property (or a share of the property) in which you live, for example. A family law solicitor can help you make a claim or represent you if your partner makes a claim against you. You can settle claims outside of Court.
Talk to an expert
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Lisa Honey
Senior Associate, Families and Divorce
Chelmsford office
Meet Lisa -
Joshua Coombe
Partner, Families and Divorce
Chelmsford office
Meet Joshua -
Caroline Andrews
Senior Associate, Families and Divorce
Brentwood office
Meet Caroline -
Sally Powell
Executive Partner, Families and Divorce
Bishop's Stortford office
Meet Sally
Whelham
Bishop's Stortford
'Sally kept me fully informed at every stage of the process and undoubtedly went ‘the extra mile’ to complete the matter on time. Overall a very professional service for which I am extremely grateful'
Jonathan
Bishop's Stortford
'Helen and Elaine were both brilliant and would highly recommend. Very thorough and had a solution for every situation thrown our way'
Clare Neal
Bishop's Stortford
'I felt very reassured every time I spoke with Helen and she explained the process at every stage'
