The simple answer – there is no such thing. If you live together, but do not marry, you do not have the same legal rights towards one another, particularly if the relationship ends. This can cause huge injustice.
Imagine, you meet, buy a home together, may be have children and live happily together for 10 years. The relationship then ends. You may assume you have the same rights as if you were married to one another? Wrong. There is no right to claim maintenance for yourself, a share of savings which have accumulated, pensions and sometimes not even the home you have lived in together.
The simplest way to protect an interest in the home is to ensure that when the property is purchased that the documents record the interest you have, either by the property being held in joint names as joint tenants if you are to hold the property in equal shares or, as tenants in common with a declaration to confirm how much of an interest you have, if unequal shares. If the property is only held in one party’s name, then the pressure is on the other party to show that they were meant to have an interest either from the time the property was purchased or subsequently. This can be very difficult to prove. Simply paying towards the mortgage and bills or contributing towards repairs is unlikely to be sufficient.
It may seem unromantic, but if you intend to join finances, then you should take legal advice to protect your position before you put any money into a property together.
If you are concerned about the legal issues that may arise please contact our Family Team on 0121 698 2200 or fill in our online enquiry form.
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