Cohabitant rights reform

Are there any proposals for new cohabitation laws?

Over the last two decades there have been a number of calls for changes in the law to give cohabiting couples greater 'protections', including:

• In 2007 the Law Commission (the independent body that makes recommendations to Parliament on law changes where it thinks they are needed) recommended a reform of the law regarding cohabitants (see Law Commission: Cohabitation). It did not recommend that cohabitants be treated the same as married couples but proposed that a new scheme should apply to certain cohabiting couples (those who have a child together or who have lived together for a minimum period of around two to five years) unless they opt out. The scheme would be designed to remedy a situation where one cohabitant might be suffering a continuing economic disadvantage as a result of contributions made to the relationship, while the other might be retaining a benefit. It would, in other words, seek to ensure that the pluses and minuses of the relationship are balanced between the couple.
• In Parliament:
  • Cohabitation Rights bills were introduced in the House of Lords by Lord Lester in 2008 and Lord Marks in 2014 and again in 2016, but these were not supported by the government of the day and did not progress due to lack of parliamentary time. 
  • In 2022, the House of Commons' Women and Equalities Committee (which holds the government to account on equalities law) noted that the current lack of legal protections for cohabitants primarily affects women, especially those from ethnic minority backgrounds and those who have a religious-only marriage. This influential committee recommended a targeted information campaign to debunk the myth of the common law marriage and also recommended law reform along the lines of that proposed by the Law Commission in 2007 (see UK Parliament: The rights of cohabiting partners) 
• Change may be on the horizon:
  • On 5 June 2026 the Law Commission published an Open Consultation titled "A fairer end to relationships" which seeks to create a fairer legal framework reflecting the growth of cohabiting couples in England and Wales and the fact that cohabitants currently have very limited legal protection on separation or death. This forms part of an ongoing consultation process and does not yet represent settled law. 
  • The Open Consultation makes the following recommendations for relationship breakdown and that these should apply to couples in an enduring family relationship meaning cohabiting for a minimum period (around three years) or having a child together and there would be a two-year time limit to bring claims (from the date when the cohabitation period ends). 
  • In outline: 
    • The financial claims available under the recommendations would be more limited than on divorce with a 'needs-based' approach (including housing, capital, income and pension)  with children's needs coming first and discretionary ('luxury') needs, excluded; 
    • Ongoing maintenance orders would only be available in exceptional circumstances and for a defined and limited duration.; 
    • To distinguish co-habiting relationships from a marriage there would be no starting assumption of a 50:50 split of relationship assets - the government intends for needs for cohabitants to be assessed more narrowly than needs on a divorce with the aim more firmly directed towards achieving an earlier clean break.
    • Couples would be able to opt-out (for example by using a cohabitation agreement, likely to be similar signing a prenuptial agreement for married couples). safeguards to that of a nuptial agreement
    • On death, qualifying cohabitants would be able to administer a deceased partner's estate, cohabitants would be entitled to make greater claims on intestacy and the timeframe for applying for financial provision on the death of a partner would alter where the couple had children. 
• As a law firm dealing with these issues on a daily basis, we are actively involved in responding to the consultations run by the Law Commission and the House of Commons' Women and Equalities Committee and we have consistently supported Resolution's campaign as well as created our own content - see, for example our video 'Cohabitation – Get informed and get protected' and podcast episode 'Living together' with Marielle Frostrup.
• Resolution, a nationwide membership organisation for family lawyers, has for the last 25 years been running an ongoing campaign for new cohabitation laws that give rights on relationship breakdown, and has been working to raise awareness so that cohabiting couples can take measures to protect themselves. We sit on several Resolution Boards to contribute to the promotion of meaningful, balanced reform. 

As and until any of the consultation recommendations become law, many cohabitants (often women) and their children remain vulnerable on relationship breakdown, and many of those are unaware of the risks they face. Law reform is not, however, without controversy as people's circumstances and viewpoints differ. Some cohabitants choose to cohabit precisely because they do not wish to enter into a state-recognised legally regulated relationship and instead prefer to retain autonomy rather than have a law imposed on them. Either way, if change is coming, it will be important to understand how it could affect you. We are experts in drafting cohabitation agreements which take all of the new law proposals into account, for both our domestic and international clients.

The consultation period closes on 14 August 2026.