Cohabitation Disputes.

Generally no — there is no equivalent of spousal maintenance for unmarried couples in England and Wales. You cannot claim a share of your former partner's income or pension simply because you lived together. The exception is where you have children together: either parent can apply to the Child Maintenance Service for child maintenance, and in some circumstances can apply to court for additional financial provision for a child's benefit under Schedule 1 of the Children Act 1989 — which can include housing. Claims for financial support for yourself personally, however, are not available to unmarried partners in the way they are for spouses.

It depends on the type of claim. Property claims under the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996 (TOLATA) are subject to a 12-year limitation period for claims relating to land — but delay can seriously weaken a claim as evidence becomes harder to gather and courts may draw adverse inferences from inaction. Claims under the Inheritance Act following a partner's death must be brought within six months of the grant of probate. Child maintenance can be pursued at any time while a child is under 16 (or 20 if in full-time education). Taking advice as soon as a relationship ends is strongly recommended — do not assume there is plenty of time.

Possibly — but it is not straightforward. Legal ownership follows the names on the title deeds, so if your name is not there, you have no automatic entitlement. However, you may be able to establish a beneficial interest in the property through a constructive trust or proprietary estoppel — legal doctrines that recognise informal arrangements and contributions. To succeed, you would generally need to show that there was a common intention that you would have a share, and that you acted to your detriment in reliance on that understanding — for example by contributing to mortgage payments, funding renovations, or giving up other financial opportunities. These claims are fact-specific, often contested, and require legal advice early.

If you declared your shares in a deed of trust or declaration of trust at the time of purchase, that document is the starting point and will usually be followed. If there is no such document, the court must infer what shares were intended from the evidence — looking at financial contributions to the purchase and mortgage, any discussions or agreements about ownership, and the parties' conduct during the relationship. This is known as a common intention constructive trust. The process is fact-specific and often disputed; what one party remembers about early conversations may differ sharply from the other's account. A declaration of trust drawn up at the outset avoids the uncertainty entirely.

Unmarried partners have no automatic right to inherit under the intestacy rules — the estate passes to blood relatives regardless of the length of the relationship. However, if you were living with your partner as their partner for at least two years immediately before their death, you can apply to court for reasonable financial provision from the estate under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975. Such claims must be brought within six months of the grant of probate. You may also have a claim to a share of any jointly owned property, depending on how it was held. Taking legal advice promptly after bereavement is essential — the time limits are strict.

It depends on how you own the property and what, if anything, you agreed at the time of purchase. If you own it as joint tenants with equal shares, the default position is a 50/50 split. If you own it as tenants in common, your shares may be unequal and should be recorded in a declaration of trust — if one exists, that document governs the split. If there is no declaration of trust and you dispute the shares, the court must determine what was intended based on evidence of contributions, discussions, and conduct. This can be costly and uncertain. The starting point where there is no agreement is that whoever paid more does not automatically get more — the court looks at the whole picture.

No. There is no such thing as common law marriage in England and Wales — it is a legal myth. No matter how long you have lived together, cohabiting does not create the financial rights that marriage or civil partnership provides. You cannot claim a share of your partner's pension, income, or assets simply on the basis of the length of your relationship. The only automatic financial connection between unmarried partners is through jointly owned property and children. This is one of the most significant and widely misunderstood gaps in family law. The only reliable way to protect yourself is through a cohabitation agreement, a declaration of trust, and a will.

The evidence needed depends on the basis of your claim. For a constructive trust claim — arguing you have a beneficial interest despite not being on the title — useful evidence includes bank statements showing contributions to the mortgage or household expenses, receipts for renovation work, correspondence or messages discussing ownership, witness evidence of conversations about the property, and any written agreements however informal. The stronger and more contemporaneous the evidence, the better: courts are sceptical of claims reconstructed years after the fact. Gathering and preserving documents as early as possible — ideally as soon as the relationship breaks down — significantly strengthens a claim.

Child arrangements — where children live and how much time they spend with each parent — are determined in the same way regardless of whether parents were married. The child's welfare is the court's paramount consideration. Unmarried fathers have parental responsibility automatically if they are named on the birth certificate (for births registered in England and Wales after 1 December 2003); if not, parental responsibility can be acquired by agreement or court order. If parents cannot agree on arrangements, either can apply to the family court for a child arrangements order. The absence of marriage has no bearing on a father's ability to apply for or be granted a meaningful role in his children's lives.

A cohabitation agreement is a written contract between unmarried partners setting out how assets, property, finances, and other practical matters will be dealt with if the relationship ends. It can cover who owns what share of a jointly owned property, how household expenses are split, and what happens to pets, savings, and personal possessions. A well-drafted cohabitation agreement, signed by both parties with independent legal advice, is treated as a binding contract by the courts — it is not automatically enforceable in the same way as a court order, but a court will generally uphold it unless it is unfair or one party was misled. Making one at the outset of a relationship is significantly easier and cheaper than litigating over assets after it ends.

A trust of land claim — brought under the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996, commonly called TOLATA — is the main legal mechanism for resolving disputes between unmarried couples over property. It allows either party to ask the court to declare what shares each person holds in a property, and to order a sale if the parties cannot agree. TOLATA claims are not limited to couples — they can be used by any co-owners in dispute, including friends or family members who have purchased property together. If you and a former partner cannot agree on what to do with a jointly owned property, a TOLATA claim is likely the route to resolution.

Unmarried couples have very few automatic legal rights against each other on separation — far fewer than married couples or civil partners. There is no right to a share of a partner's income, pension, or assets simply because you have lived together, regardless of the length of the relationship. Financial claims are limited to property you can demonstrate a legal or beneficial interest in, claims relating to children, and in some circumstances claims under the Inheritance Act if a partner has died. The absence of legal protection for cohabiting couples is one of the most significant gaps in family law, and it catches many people off guard.