Cohabitation Agreement

Cohabitants are two or more individuals sharing a residents. In case, two cohabitants decide to separate, their residence along with the household items should undergo equal division. Typically, this is irrespective of who has a bigger share in the rent or expenses, and the name on the residence’s contract.

If the cohabitants willingly want to modify the setup than the one in the Cohabitation Act, they need to draft a cohabitation agreement.

What is a Cohabitation Agreement

A cohabitation agreement is a legally binding contract between two cohabitants. It enlists the items that the two cohabitants will share, and how they will divide the items in case one of them dies, or they separate. 

Without a cohabitation agreement, the cohabitants will equally divide all the property they bought for joint use during the cohabitation period regardless of who purchased the items or paid more for the property.

A cohabitation agreement can only regulate the division of the home and household goods bought for joint use. Items purchased before cohabitation, possessions not related to the home (such as a car), and money in a bank account are excluded from the division.

Other Considerations

In the event of separation or property division, only the property related to the respective house is divided equally. Both the cohabitants also serve as joint owners of any shared car and holders of any joint bank accounts. Only the person who owns the car is entitled to it, and only the account holder is entitled to the money in the event of separation or property division.

Cohabitants who wish to inherit from each other should also consider making a will as cohabitants do not automatically inherit from each other as spouses do. A cohabitation agreement cannot replace a will. For more information about wills,  Click HERE.

We can assist you

At Advantage law firm, we have extensive experience in handling all types of family law matters. 

Contact us for assistance with cohabitation agreements. If you need a living together agreement, we can draft one for you.

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