Getting Married or Moving in Together?

05/10/2017

While many couples still choose to get married, for those who don't take the plunge there’s the option of living together. Cohabiting is more popular than ever but, just like marriage, it can bring its own problems when fall outs and disagreements over who gets what make a break up all the more acrimonious. 

So, before you sign your name on the joint mortgage, we’d recommend you consider getting a cohabitation agreement drawn up. These identify any assets you bring to the relationship – money, property, possessions – which are ring-fenced in the event of your relationship breaking down.

If you’re thinking about getting married, it’s worth noting a recent ruling by the Court of Appeal which has cast doubt over conventional assumptions surrounding how the assets of a marriage are divided between parties (see our news article dated 18/09/17 for more details). Family lawyers have been divided on this particular case because the judge ruled in favour of the husband keeping the majority of the couple’s assets as he brought more wealth to the marriage.

What the case has done is set a precedent that prenuptial agreements should be sought prior to getting married. In essence, a ‘pre nup’ is a contract which outlines the division of financial, property and personal assets between yourselves in the event of divorce. Of course, it’s easy to see this as not being a very romantic notion, but all sorts of problems occur when marriages break down and splitting finances can be a very thorny and drawn out (not to mention expensive) process.

If you’d like some guidance on how cohabitation and prenuptial agreements work and what you can expect from them, our solicitors can talk you through it.