The Guide to Cohabitation

Living together does not make you married. Not after two years. Not after ten. Not after twenty.

And yet millions of unmarried couples buy homes together, have children, pay mortgages, renovate properties and build entire lives together without really knowing what would happen if the relationship ended.

That can be an extraordinarily expensive thing to discover too late.

The FamilyBarrister Guide to Cohabitation is a practical, plain-English guide to the law for unmarried couples in England and Wales, written by Jason M Hadden MBE, Barrister, and Reena Saini, Solicitor.

No legal textbook language for the sake of it. No assumption that you already know what “beneficial interest”, “equity” or TOLATA means. We explain the law from the beginning and, more importantly, what you can actually do about it.

The guide covers buying a home together, unequal deposits, one partner moving into the other's property, declarations of trust, cohabitation agreements, mortgage payments, separation, ownership disputes, forcing or resisting a sale, buying your former partner out, TOLATA claims, children and Schedule 1, child maintenance, domestic abuse and occupation of the home, possessions and debts, wills and inheritance, pensions, benefits, tax, businesses, bankruptcy, religious and cultural marriages which may not amount to a legal marriage, and the proposed reforms to cohabitation law.

There is also a substantial practical toolkit, including a simple Declaration of Trust, Homeowner Moving-In Agreement, wider Cohabitation Agreement checklist, separation money schedule, model correspondence, court preparation material and worked examples.

And if the relationship has already ended, there is practical guidance on what to do in the first 24 hours, the next 72 hours and the first week.

Because the best time to discuss who owns what is while you still like one another.

The second best time is now.

England & Wales • 2026 edition

Digital PDF guide. For general information and education. It is not a substitute for legal advice about your individual circumstances.