Legal Services for Unmarried Couples

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 – child maintenance is still payable if you were unmarried
• 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).