The main difference between cohabitation and civil partnership or marriage is that cohabitation has no legal standing, whereas civil partnerships and marriages are legally recognised.

Cohabitation means living together without being married or in a civil partnership. This enables couples to end their relationship informally without the involvement of the court. While civil partners or spouses need to apply to the court for an annulment or dissolution to end their relationship.

Because cohabiting is not legally recognised, there is a lack of protection and some disadvantages, for example:

• Cohabiting couples have no automatic rights to property, inheritance or pension benefits.
• Partners who live together have no financial duty to each other, instead managing financial matters through informal arrangements with no legal backing. When a relationship ends, cohabiting partners have no financial responsibility to each other.
• If you live with your partner but do not own the property, or you are not the named tenant, you have no right to remain in the property and can be asked to leave. In contrast, if you are in a civil partnership or married, you have the right to remain regardless of who the named homeowner or tenant is.

How to protect yourself if you are cohabiting:

• Cohabitation agreements solicitors can help you draw up a legally binding document that sets out the financial and practical arrangements that you and your partner agree to, providing clarity and protection for both of you. A cohabitation agreement can be entered into at any time, even if you are already living together.
• A declaration of trust may also be helpful if you and your partner have invested differently into your home, for example one of you has contributed more to the deposit or mortgage repayments. This document specifies who owns what percentage of a jointly owned property.