Do Cohabiting Couples Have Rights?

The Solution: Marriage or the Agreement:
Unmarried cohabitants can provide rights to one another that are analogous to rights granted to married couples by entering into a contract or contracts with one another. Written cohabitation agreements usually involve financial and property arrangements.

What property rights do cohabiting couples have?

Cohabiting couples, unlike married couples, have no automatic rights to financial support on separation. Couples can specify what they would like their rights to be when they buy property, or by recording their wishes in writing at any time.

Do unmarried partners have any rights?

Some states grant community property rights to unmarried couples through common law marriage after the couple has spent a certain amount of time living together. California's laws do not recognize common law marriage, nor do they grant community property rights to unmarried couples without an agreement.

Alexander Ross

Alexander Ross

Gaming, Esports & Interactive Media Writer

Alexander Ross has covered the video game industry for a decade, writing deep dives on game design, esports tournaments, VR developments, and gaming culture.