Cohabitation agreements for those living together or intending to live together in a marriage-like (common-law) relationship, or in a relationship as companions.
People make agreements at the beginning of or during a relationship or if two people intend to live together as companions in a variety of circumstances:
where two people decide to live together as companions and to save expenses
where the marriage is a second or third marriage and the parties have children from prior relationships
where a relationship is being entered into between older people where one or the other or both have acquired assets over the years, before the relationship
where people decide to enter into a marriage like relationship, known as common law
where two people decide to live together as companions
Why Make An Cohabitation Agreement?
to work out what happens to property acquired before the relationship
to set out the obligations of each to share in expenses during the relationship
to decide how to share property during the relationship
to determine financial obligations to each other and to any children of either person
to set out how the agreement will be looked at and reviewed during the term of the agreement to make sure that it is working fairly for both parties
to address what will happen to inheritances and other payments that may be received during the relationship
to set out what will happen to property of either and both of the parties if the relationship were to end
to address what will happen on the death of either. For instance, an agreement can set out whether one of the parties to the relationship has any right to benefit in the estate of the other. A major reason for this is to protect the wish to leave inheritances for children of previous relationships.