Cohabitation Agreements - where's the romance in that?

So, you’ve been with your boyfriend or girlfriend for a few months or maybe years. It’s all going so well and now he’s asked you to move in with him! It’s so exciting and romantic! But wait, what’s this about going to the solicitor’s office and signing a document that tells you what’s going to happen when the relationship turns sour and you split up? Suddenly, not so romantic anymore.

Since one of the longest titled pieces of law came into operation (Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act, 2010 to be exact) on 1^st January 2011, unmarried couples who live together have either become eligible for the redress scheme in the Act, or began accruing rights and obligations.

Essentially, if you are a couple and you have lived together for a certain length of time, and one of you is financially dependent on the other, you may be entitled to financial redress at the end of your relationship. This can include maintenance, property adjustment orders, pension adjustment orders and provision for payment out of your former partners’ estate on death.

The law also allows for couples to enter into an agreement where you can clearly state what you want to happen in the event that you separate in the future. This is a bit like a prenuptial agreement.

Think of it like a contract (unromantic I know – sorry!). When you get engaged you know that you will be getting married at the end of your engagement and that you will, as a married person, have certain rights and obligations. Well, now the law also provides that as soon as you start living with someone you start accruing certain rights and obligations. Doesn’t it make sense that you would know at the beginning exactly what those rights and obligations are, so that if it all goes pear-shaped at least you know you won’t be fighting to keep your house / money / pension etc.?

Maria O’ Donovan, Associate Solicitor

Wolfe & Co., Market Street, Skibbereen, Co. Cork

Maria.odonovan@wolfe.ie
See www.wolfe.ie for more information.