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Cohabitation agreement for a couple living together (England and Wales)
England and Wales · in English
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11 questions · about 5 min
Made for use in England and Wales
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For an unmarried couple who live together, or are about to: a written agreement on how you share the rent or mortgage and bills, what each of you owns, joint accounts and debts, and what happens to your belongings if you separate. There is no ‘common-law marriage’, so the law gives cohabitants far fewer claims than spouses. Each of you should take independent legal advice before signing; who owns the home stays as the title and any declaration of trust say.
- Made for use in England and Wales
- Last updated October 28, 2026
- Document in English
Where a UK document reproduces the words of legislation or of a government publication — UK, Scottish or Northern Irish — it contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
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When to use this document
- You are moving in with your partner in England and want to write down who pays for what.
- You have lived together for years without marrying and learn that common-law marriage does not exist.
- You are buying furniture and a car together and want it clear who keeps what if you split up.
- You want a living-together agreement before you set up home together in Wales.
What you fill in
The details the document asks for.
- Date
- First partner
- Second partner
- Your shared home (house and street)
- Town or city
- Postcode of your shared home
- Who rents or owns the home
- How you share rent or mortgage, bills and household costs
- Anything else you agree for a separation (blank if nothing)
- First partner's own belongings (Schedule 1; write None if none)
- Second partner's own belongings (Schedule 2; write None if none)
Common questions
- Is a cohabitation agreement legally binding in England and Wales?
- It is a contract, and courts generally hold couples to a clear agreement made freely, with full disclosure and the chance of independent advice — which is why the agreement records both. It cannot oust the court’s powers over children or child maintenance. Each of you should have it read by your own adviser before signing. The government consulted in 2026 on new rights for cohabitants; the law has not changed yet.
- Does this agreement decide who owns our home?
- No. Ownership of a house or flat, and each partner’s share, is decided by the legal title at HM Land Registry and by a declaration of trust, a separate signed document, usually a deed, that a solicitor or licensed conveyancer can prepare. If one of you is to have a share in a home the other owns, or you own it together in unequal shares, record that in a declaration of trust. This agreement deals with the running costs and your belongings.
- What rights do unmarried partners have when they separate?
- Far fewer than spouses or civil partners: there is no ‘common-law marriage’, however long you have lived together. A partner may have a claim to a share in a home only through the legal title, a declaration of trust or the law of trusts; and claims for children are made for them, not for the partner. A partner may claim from an estate in some cases, but a will is the safe way to provide for each other.
How you can sign this document
- Print it and sign by hand. The signature lines in the document are left blank on purpose — sign on them in ink.
- Sign it yourself with a qualified electronic signature. If you already hold a QES — Evrotrust, B-Trust, StampIT, ZealiD or any qualified provider on the EU Trusted List, on a card, a USB token, in a mobile app or in the cloud — our signing guide explains step by step how to sign this exact file without invalidating it. Step-by-step help, and a way to check it worked
DocMuse sells documents, not legal advice. Acceptance always depends on the recipient's rules and your local law.
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