Cohabitation law reform: what is proposed, what has not changed, and what you can do now

In short. If you live together and are not married or in a civil partnership, the law in England and Wales has not changed. The government has proposed new rights for some cohabiting couples, consulted on them over the summer of 2026, and has not yet said what it will do (GOV.UK). This page sets out what is proposed, what is true today, and what you can do now. We update it when the position moves.

What is true today

There is no such thing as a common law marriage. The rights that come with marriage or a civil partnership "do not apply if you live with your partner but are not married or in a civil partnership", and that stays true however long you have lived together and whether or not you have children (GOV.UK).

The 2019 British Social Attitudes survey found that 46% of people in England and Wales believe the opposite (University of Exeter and NatCen Social Research, 22 January 2019; House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee, HC 92, paragraph 16). That matters because living together is common: the Office for National Statistics estimated 3.5 million cohabiting couple families in the UK in 2025, about one family in six (House of Lords Library, citing the ONS).

If you separate, there is no framework for sharing money and property between cohabitants the way there is on divorce. A dispute about a home is usually decided under the law of trusts, using the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996: broadly, who owns what, and what you both intended (legislation.gov.uk; the government's summary of the current law).

If you have children together, both parents must support them. Claims for children go through the Child Maintenance Service or under Schedule 1 to the Children Act 1989, which can provide for a child's housing and needs, but not for the other partner in their own right (legislation.gov.uk; consultation document).

If your partner dies without a will, you have no automatic right to inherit under the intestacy rules (consultation document, Part 3). You can ask a court for reasonable provision for your maintenance if you lived together as a couple for the whole of the two years before the death (Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, section 1).

How you own a home matters. Owners can hold a property as joint tenants, where the whole passes to the survivor, or as tenants in common, where each has a share that can be left in a will (GOV.UK, joint property ownership).

What is proposed: A fairer end to relationships

On 5 June 2026 the Ministry of Justice opened a consultation, A fairer end to relationships. It closed on 14 August 2026. Its page now says "We are analysing your feedback", and no response has been published (GOV.UK).

Everything in this section is a proposal. None of it is law. For couples who live together, the government proposed (consultation document, Part 2):

• Who would be covered: adults in long-term, committed and interdependent relationships who have lived together for at least three years, or who live together and share a child.
• Covered by default, with a way out: the rules would apply automatically, and a couple could opt out if both agree.
• What a court would do: start from each person keeping what they own, and depart from that only to meet defined needs, more narrowly than on divorce. Children's welfare would be the court's first consideration, and a clean break would be the aim wherever possible.
• A time limit: a claim would have to be made within two years of separating.

The same consultation proposed inheritance rights for qualifying cohabitants when a partner dies without a will (Part 3). It also proposed changes for married couples, including binding nuptial agreements (consultation document).

The proposed opt-out, and what it would take

As proposed, opting out would not be a form you tick. Each of the following would be required (consultation document, Part 2):

• a valid contract, made without undue influence or misrepresentation;
• made by deed, with a signed statement that both of you understand you are opting out;
• disclosure of each person's finances;
• independent legal advice for each of you.

Neither person could waive the disclosure or the advice. An opt-out could not stop a claim made for a child.

What this means for an agreement you write today. Nothing proposed would turn an existing cohabitation agreement into an opt-out by itself. That includes one written on paper or with any app, ours included. Whether and how existing agreements would count is one of the questions the government has not yet answered (consultation document).

In Parliament

A separate private member's bill, the Cohabitation Rights Bill [HL], was introduced in the House of Lords by Lord Marks on 5 June 2026 and had its second reading on 17 July 2026; its committee stage has no date yet ("Date to be announced" on the bill's page, last updated 9 September 2026). It would give some cohabitants a right to ask a court to put right a financial benefit or disadvantage caused by the relationship. At second reading the government said it shares the aim of reform, but cannot support the bill, preferring its own approach, based on needs rather than compensation, which it had put out to consultation (UK Parliament; House of Lords Library). We explain it in The Cohabitation Rights Bill: what it is and where it stands.

Weddings law, too. From 16 July to 24 September 2026 the government also consulted on making it simpler to marry, including letting religious officiants conduct legally recognised civil marriages at the same ceremony. That is a proposal too (GOV.UK, Tying the knot).

What happens next

The government will publish its response on the consultation page. Any new law would then need a bill, which the government says will come "when parliamentary time allows" (consultation document, next steps). Nobody can say yet when that will be, or what the final rules will be. What happens after the consultation explains the usual steps.

What you can do now, whatever happens

None of this needs the law to change.

1. Find out how you own your home. If one of you contributed more, or you want unequal shares, that is worth writing down properly. A solicitor can tell you whether you need a declaration of trust (GOV.UK, joint property ownership).
2. Make wills. Without one, an unmarried partner has no automatic share of an estate today (consultation document, Part 3; GOV.UK, making a will).
3. Talk about money before you need to. Who pays for what, what happens to savings and pensions, and what you would want if you separated. Writing it down helps you both remember what you agreed. A cohabitation agreement is not automatically legally binding, and how much weight it carries depends on how it is drafted (consultation document).
4. Take advice for the parts that matter legally. A family lawyer can tell you what applies to you. Resolution's members are family lawyers committed to a non-confrontational approach (Find a law professional).

This page explains the law and the proposals in general terms. It is not legal advice about your situation.

Free to read: The Bearing, The Atlas and The Routes.