The Enforcement of Non-Marital Cohabitation Agreements
Every year the number of couples that choose to live together with no intention of marriage grows.
What was once a serious societal taboo is now an accepted reality.
But couples who choose to cohabitate without getting married are at a disadvantage in that they are not protected by the legal contract of marriage.
This is why non-marital cohabitation agreements exist and are gaining popularity in the United States.
Non-marital cohabitation agreements are very similar to pre-marital agreements, only there is nothing that implies an impending marriage.
But these contracts do protect non married cohabitating couples in a number of different areas, including shared assets and, in some cases, child custody.
The California Supreme Court set precedent in regards to non-marital agreements in a landmark case in 1976 involving a famous actor and his live-in partner.
The case resulted in the court setting a number of standards regarding such contracts.
These standards originally only applied to California law, but many states across the United States have adopted them.
The four contract principles that govern non married couples who are cohabitating are:
What was once a serious societal taboo is now an accepted reality.
But couples who choose to cohabitate without getting married are at a disadvantage in that they are not protected by the legal contract of marriage.
This is why non-marital cohabitation agreements exist and are gaining popularity in the United States.
Non-marital cohabitation agreements are very similar to pre-marital agreements, only there is nothing that implies an impending marriage.
But these contracts do protect non married cohabitating couples in a number of different areas, including shared assets and, in some cases, child custody.
The California Supreme Court set precedent in regards to non-marital agreements in a landmark case in 1976 involving a famous actor and his live-in partner.
The case resulted in the court setting a number of standards regarding such contracts.
These standards originally only applied to California law, but many states across the United States have adopted them.
The four contract principles that govern non married couples who are cohabitating are:
- Unmarried couples have a right to make written contracts
- Unmarried couples have a right to make oral contracts
- The court may choose to examine the actions of a couple to decide if an "implied contract" may exist in lieu of an oral or written one
- If there is no evidence of a contract, the judge may then presume that "the parties intend to deal fairly with each other" in the case of allegations that one partner is indebted to another
