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Cohabitation agreement (contrat de concubinage), in French (Switzerland)
Switzerland · in French
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Made for use in Switzerland
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For couples living together in Switzerland without being married: the agreement on property and inventory, how household costs are shared, the home, loans and gifts, and the settlement on separation. It also states what such an agreement cannot do: it does not make the partner an heir (that needs a handwritten will, Art. 505 of the Civil Code, CC), pension fund benefits follow the fund's regulations (Art. 20a of the Occupational Pensions Act, LPP), and parental authority and child maintenance are settled elsewhere. With an inventory annex. Print two copies and both sign. In French.
- Made for use in Switzerland
- Last updated November 4, 2026
Published byDocMuse
When to use this document
- You live together unmarried in French-speaking Switzerland and want to put in writing who owns what.
- You share a flat with your partner and only one of you is on the lease.
- You are expecting a child without being married and want to organise the household's money.
- You are looking for a contrat de concubinage covering life together and a possible separation.
What you fill in
The details the document asks for.
- First party
- First party's address
- Second party
- Second party's address
- Living together since
- Address of the property
- How household costs are shared
- Agreed monthly contributions (amount per party, account)
- Compensation for the one who runs the household or cares for children (if agreed)
- Who is the tenant of the flat
- Who keeps the flat after a separation, and by when the other moves out
- Time to settle accounts after a separation (e.g. three months)
- Additional terms
- City
- Date
- First party's property: what it is, and when and how it was acquired
- Second party's property: what it is, and when and how it was acquired
- Things owned jointly when signing (and the shares, if not half each)
Common questions
- Why make a cohabitation agreement in Switzerland?
- Because the law settles almost nothing: no maintenance after a separation, no share in the other's assets, no splitting of AHV and pension savings, no right of inheritance. Without a contract, courts may apply the rules on a simple partnership to things acquired together (Art. 530 ff. CO), which often turns into disputes over proof. The agreement sets who owns what, who pays which costs and how things are wound up on separation. It needs no notary; land requires a public deed and has no place in it.
- Can a Swiss cohabitation agreement leave one's property to the partner?
- No. Cohabiting partners are not each other's legal heirs, and the agreement creates no right of inheritance. It takes a will written entirely, dated and signed by hand (Art. 505 CC), or a public will or contract of succession made before a notary. The compulsory shares of descendants and of a spouse one is not divorced from remain. Inheritance tax between partners depends on the canton. A will cannot be filled in on a template: it must be in your own handwriting.
- What can I do so that my partner receives occupational pension benefits if I die in Switzerland?
- No survivor's pension from the AHV. A pension fund may provide benefits for a partner but need not; its regulations decide whether and on what conditions (Art. 20a LPP), and it usually asks for a beneficiary declaration during the member's lifetime. In pillar 3a the partner is a beneficiary with the descendants if the couple lived together without interruption for the last five years or the partner must support a joint child (Art. 2 OPP 3). Ask both providers what they require; the cohabitation agreement can prove that you lived together.
- Can our Swiss contrat de concubinage set custody and maintenance of our children?
- No, these have their own routes. Unmarried parents obtain joint parental authority by a joint declaration: with the acknowledgement of the child before the civil registry office, or later at the child protection authority where the child lives (Art. 298a CC). A maintenance agreement binds the child only once that authority has approved it (Art. 287 para. 1 CC). The cohabitation agreement can, however, provide compensation for the partner who works less to look after the children.
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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