Co-habitation Agreements

Everyone’s personal situation is different, which means that each agreement will be different.

Having a cohabitation agreement drawn up can help to set down some practical guidelines for the relationship between you and your partner. Thinking these things through early on should make things much clearer and less painful in the event of a break-up.

It is important to remember that although courts are showing more willingness to take account of such agreements, there is still no certainty that a cohabitation agreement will be enforced.

How to avoid allegations

To avoid allegations of duress or undue influence, the parties to a cohabitation agreement should have independent legal advice and the agreement should be made after the parties exchange full and frank disclosure. This is particularly important if the terms of the agreement seem to favour one party over the other. Otherwise, it may be argued that one of you tried to disadvantage the other unfairly.