'Living in sin' - what are my rights?

The future
Because of the increase in cohabitation over recent years, there is now a growing concern over the lack of legal remedies for unmarried cohabiting couples and particularly the lack of solutions to relieve the potential financial hardship suffered by cohabitants who break up.

On 31 May 2006, the Law Commission (an independent body which is in charge of constantly reviewing the current laws and making proposals for its reform) published a consultation paper, 'Cohabitation - the financial consequences of relationship breakdown'. The paper focuses on capital provision where there are dependent children, capital and income provision on relationship breakdown and provision on the death of a partner. The consultation closed on 30 September 2006. It remains to be seen whether this will result in any law giving new rights and remedies for cohabitants. In the meantime, protect yourself, your partner and your children by legally recording who owns what, and what financial arrangements you can agree on should the worst come to the worst and you decide to split.

This information in this document is intended for general guidance only. It provides useful information in a concise form and is not a substitute for obtaining legal advice. If you would like advice specific to your circumstances, please contact us.

Naim Qureshi is a Partner at Child and Child. For further information please call (0)207 235 8000