Living together: protect yourself legally

ere are some steps on how you can protect yourself legally, whether you’ve been thinking about living together or you’ve been living together for years. Under existing UK law, couples who have not married have no financial obligations to each other if they separate; no matter how long they have been living together or how many children they have had together. There will be a lack of financial protection, both presently and in the future, for cohabitees should their partner die without making a Will and making proper provision.

If one of the couple dies and neither of them has made a will, the partner has no legal right to the other partner’s property. So it’s always important to get things down in writing to protect yourself in any eventuality.
The courts have ruled in a recent case that a couple who had been living together for 20 years had to divide the profits from their property according to what they had originally put in. So, in case you separate at a later date, agree on the financial structure of your relationship.

Other steps which you can take are to:

Agree on the payment of bills and expenses.

• It may help to separate items into categories, such as:
  General expenditure (e.g. food, petrol, bills that relate to the occupation of the property, etc.).
  • Mortgage and rent.
  • Bills that relate to the ownership of the property (e.g. council tax and buildings insurance).
  You both may decide that it’s only fair to split the costs of the general expenditure, but if one of you has a larger share of ownership in your property, you may consider it fairer to split the bills accordingly (e.g. 30:70 or 60:40 as appropriate).

Decide on how you will operate joint bank accounts and credit cards

• Work out how you will operate the bank accounts that will pay for your expenditure. If you plan to keep your own separate accounts, make it clear that those bills you pay will come from them. Where you plan to have a joint account, agree the amounts you will both contribute and be strict about the items that can be paid from it – if you don’t and you buy large items from it, you could find that you have problems agreeing who is to have the item in the event of a split
  Be careful about credit cards! Nothing can start an argument like one person accusing another of overspending on a joint credit card. Either keep separate cards or if you decide to have a joint one, make sure it’s only used for joint purchases and is paid for jointly (and if you do separate, that you agree in advance as to how you will divide these items up – most lawyers advise their clients to toss coins!)

Make a cohabitation agreement

• Once you have sorted out all of the financial issues between you, make a cohabitation agreement. A cohabitation agreement stops you from arguing about these matters again and, should things get nasty at a later date and the dispute ends up in court, the cohabitation agreement is evidence of both your wishes.

Be clear who owns the property

• If you’re buying a property together, you must be clear with each other how you are going to own it and what you will each contribute. For instance, if one of you puts down 70 per cent of the deposit, you may agree it’s fair that they retain a 70 per cent interest in the property.
  Whatever figures you agree, make sure that the ownership you want is recorded properly by your conveyancing solicitor, who purchases the property on your behalf as tenants in common. If they don’t do this, then you will own the property as joint tenants, which means that it’s owned in equal shares and if one of you dies, the share of the deceased will pass automatically to the surviving partner – not to the deceased’s family or anyone else they may choose to nominate in their will
  Also, ask your solicitor to draft a trust deed to reflect the agreement you have reached as to what should happen if you separate, since this will then make the terms of ownership absolutely binding upon you both and will cut out any arguments (and huge legal bills) if the unthinkable ever happens.

Prepare your wills together

• If neither of you make a will, then you both will die ‘intestate’. This means that your possessions, finances (and maybe your home) will be distributed according to law (the law of ‘intestacy’), which is likely to be against your personal wishes. This usually means that your partner’s property would be left to their next of kin (i.e. their parents or even their children), and not you.
  Wills reflect what you wish to happen to your assets when you die – they’re not costly and it’s easy to make a will. Not only do wills make things clear between the two of you, but also to your respective families – the worst legacy anyone can leave their loved ones is a dispute over their estate when they’re gone.

Get a parental responsibility agreement

• If you’re a father without parental responsibility and your ex decides to move out of the area, for example, or your partner dies and you have no rights over your children’s welfare. If either of these events occurs, then the only way you can gain parental responsibility is by getting a court order or a parental responsibility agreement in your favour.
  Therefore, it’s wise to draw up a parental responsibility agreement if you have children

Prepare for future illness

• If one of you gets ill, then it may be difficult for you to decide what happens to your loved one. By making a power of attorney, you can gain control of your partner’s finances should they become mentally incapable.
  If there are certain medical treatments you don’t want to receive if you get ill (e.g. whether you would like the life support machine to be turned off), it’s also wise to draft up an Advance Medical Decision stating your wishes. This will help your partner to take care of your wishes, as the hospital may have a duty to consult your partner’s next of kin, taking you out of the decision-making process.