Cohabitation Agreements in Northern Ireland

What is a cohabitation agreement?

A cohabitation agreement is a legally binding document between people who live together but are not married or in a civil partnership. It is important for cohabitees to consider having such an agreement in place, because they do not automatically have the rights or protections that married couples/civil partners do.

Cohabitation agreements can also be made between people who are not romantically involved – for example, housemates, family members or friends who live together and want to regulate their arrangements and protect their rights.

An agreement may set out each party’s rights and responsibilities to each other as cohabitees, each party’s rights in respect of the property, investments, pensions, their financial arrangements, provisions in respect of any children they have together, as well as what should happen if the couple separate, or if one party becomes ill, or passes away.

What are the benefits of having a cohabitation agreement in place?

1. Property

Without a cohabitation agreement, any shared property between the cohabitants (including their primary residence) belongs to whomever has legal ownership (that being whomever is named on the title deeds). An agreement can record each cohabitee’s legal and beneficial interest in the property, preventing a dispute further down the line.

An agreement between the cohabitants can record and regulate what should happen to the property should the relationship breakdown. For instance, the parties may agree to sell the property upon their separation, and so the cohabitation agreement will set out who lives in the house and pays the household expenses pending the sale, how the legal costs of selling the house will be paid, and most importantly, how the sale proceeds are to be divided between the parties.

2. Other assets, savings and pensions

In the absence of any contrary legal agreement, cohabitants’ assets are split as per their legal ownership; any asset belonging to either party will remain their property after the separation – this includes belongings, finances, investments, and pensions.

A cohabitation agreement enables couples to plan how assets should be split upon relationship breakdown; for example, the agreement can set out that the cohabitees are entitled to a share of each other’s savings, or that they’re entitled to a share of each other’s pension.

This is particularly important in instances where one party is the ‘breadwinner’ and the other party is the ‘homemaker’ as – if the cohabitants split up – the party who relied on the other’s monetary contributions can be left in serious financial difficulties.

Such an agreement can also deal with how personal property (such as cars, furniture, or art) and even pets are to be allocated between the parties, should they separate.

3. Next of Kin and Medical Emergencies

Cohabiting partners are not considered each other’s next of kin and do not automatically inherit from their partner on their death unless it is expressly set out. This means that without an agreement, your cohabitant partner would not have the automatic right to visit you in hospital or obtain details about your condition, should you find yourself fallen ill or injured, and would also not have the right to make funerary arrangements for you, without express written provision.

Although many cohabitants will not experience relationship breakdown – and most cohabitants cannot imagine a time when they are not living together – having a cohabitation agreement that you do not have to rely on is much more advantageous than facing lengthy and costly litigation proceedings if cohabitation does end.

This advice is written by Clare McEleney, Family & Child Law Solicitor.

If you would like to contact Clare, please click here.