Unmarried couples often mistakenly believe that, once they have lived together for a certain length of time, they will become 'common law husband and wife', and therefore have legal status similar to a married couple.
It is not clear why why this myth persists, but if you are currently living with but not married to your partner, or are planning on moving in with someone in the near future taking specialist legal advice from a solicitor could help you to to ensure your property rights are legally protected in the event that the relationship breaks down.
There is no such thing as a common law husband or common law wife in English law. When cohabiting couples separate their property rights are the same as those of strangers who have lived together. This is true even in the case of same sex couples who have not entered into a Civil Partnership.
Nobody likes to think about the possibility of relationship breakdown, particularly if things are going well enough to consider living together, but doing so now could help you to avoid costly and complex litigation and a great deal of upset if the worst should happen.
If your relationship has broken down, whether you have a cohabitation agreement or not, you and your ex-partner may go through bitter disputes about property. You may wish to consult our team of expert solicitors to discuss your legal position and how you and your ex-partner can fairly divide your assets.