All these questions and many more arise following the breakdown of a relationship.
If you are married then there is a statutory framework that the Court can rely on to achieve fairness between the parties. If it is a same sex relationship the recently introduced Civil Partnership Act gives the Courts similar powers. However, if you are an unmarried couple and break up there is no comparable legislation in place. A Common Law marriage is fiction.
The number of first time marriages in 1970 was 390,000; by 2000 it had dropped to 180,000. Cohabitation has increased: In Great Britain from 11% of women under 50 to 30% in 2001. The number of cohabiting couples is predicted to double by 2021. In the UK 40% of all children are born outside of marriage. The likelihood of your cohabiting is therefore quite high.
Even after a relatively short period of cohabitation significant changes may occur. After say a 3 year relationship a couple could find themselves with 2 children, a house worth 50% more than they paid for it and a mother no longer working at work and a father who has been promoted.
Many couples enter into cohabitation agreements; it may not be particularly romantic nor very optimistic but such an arrangement might well prevent months of litigation and save the parties significant legal costs in the event that the relationship breaks down. If there is no cohabitation agreement then it is likely that the Courts will have to rely on the law of trusts to resolve any property disputes, a notoriously complicated area of law in which skilled and specialized legal help is essential.
If there are children then the day to day arrangements for their care need to be resolved, either by agreement or by the Court. Although the CSA will deal with the maintenance of children it does not deal with childrens’ housing needs and specialized legal help may be needed to resolve such an issue.
Whatever your circumstances it is well worth consulting a solicitor prior to cohabitation and you should certainly see a solicitor upon the breakdown of such a relationship in order to ascertain where you stand legally. .
