Unmarried couple agreements and co-habitation disputes
Content
The law relating to couples who live together is not the same as the law that applies to married couples or those in a civil partnership. This is a notoriously complex area of law and the importance of obtaining early specialist advice cannot be underestimated. Our team of family lawyers is committed to resolving your issues sensitively and can provide specialist advice on this complicated and challenging area of law.
How we can advise you
We can advise you about:
- your legal position in the event that you are planning on living with a partner
- cohabitation agreements (often called living together agreements). These can be used to regulate arrangements during a relationship, for example who is to pay household outgoings etc. and to determine issues at the end of a relationship such as division of contents, sale of a property and custody of pets
- the circumstances in which on relationship breakdown you may be able to obtain additional financial support for children under Schedule 1 of the Children Act 1989
- the circumstances in which on relationship breakdown you may be able to make a claim against jointly owned assets, assets owned by your former partner that you have contributed to or which you have been promised a share of and as a result have acted to your detriment
- child maintenance
We are also able to advise you about alternative ways of resolving disputes arising on separation including mediation and arbitration.
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How our team will work with you
Our team will:
- discuss all options with you to ascertain which avenues are relevant to your circumstances given what you want to achieve
- explain the law, the courts’ likely approach and the matters the court will take account of in cohabitation cases
- discuss with you the evidence you will be expected to provide
- consider with you whether there are any special circumstances in your case which need to be taken account of
- represent you at court hearings, negotiate with your former partner or their legal representative and keep you fully informed about case progress
- draft a suitable agreement for you or review an agreement prepared by your partner
- keep you appraised as to costs
- work with you at your pace
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Our experience
We have significant experience in this challenging area of law and are committed to resolving matters amicably and sensitively for you.
Our experts are members of Resolution; an organisation of family lawyers committed to non-confrontational divorce, separation and other family problems.
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