Cohabitation rights in the UK: what unmarried couples actually have

There is no such thing as a 'common-law spouse' in England & Wales. The phrase comes up constantly in conversation — and it is genuinely surprising how many people believe it carries some legal weight. It does not. Two people who live together as if they were married, however many years they have done so, have no automatic legal status as a couple. None of the rules that protect spouses or civil partners on death apply to them.

We've written this guide because the gap between what people think the law says and what it actually says is, in our experience, the single most consequential misunderstanding in UK private life. It costs cohabiting partners their homes, their savings, and the dignity of grieving without a court case.

What 'cohabitation' means in law

There is no single statutory definition. Courts look at whether the couple lived together in a stable relationship; the duration of cohabitation matters in some contexts (most notably the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, which sets a two-year threshold for cohabiting partners to claim against an estate). What it does not do is create automatic rights of inheritance, automatic rights to occupy a shared home after the other's death, or automatic rights to a share of the couple's assets.

What happens if your partner dies without a will

If your partner dies without a will (intestate), the rules of intestacy apply. Those rules look exclusively at blood relatives — parents, then siblings, then nieces and nephews, then further out — and the surviving spouse or civil partner. A cohabiting partner is nowhere on that list. Your partner's estate passes to their relatives in the strict order set out in the rules, regardless of how long you have been together, whether you share children, or whether you share a home.

If you have lived together for at least two years immediately before the death, you may apply to the court under the 1975 Act for reasonable financial provision. That is not the same as inheriting; it is a court application, brought in grief, with legal costs and no guarantee. We have never met anyone who would not have preferred a will.

Joint ownership of a home — joint tenants vs tenants in common

If you and your partner own your home jointly, the rules differ depending on how you hold it. Joint tenants — the surviving owner takes the whole property automatically by 'survivorship', regardless of any will. Tenants in common — each of you owns a defined share, and that share passes by your will (or, without one, by the intestacy rules). Most cohabiting couples we work with do not know which form of ownership they hold. The Land Registry will tell you in a few minutes if you ask.

Pensions, life insurance and 'nominations'

Most workplace pensions and life insurance policies are paid out by the trustees according to a 'nomination form' the policyholder fills in — not by the will. Many cohabiting partners are not nominated; in some cases the form was filled in years before the relationship began. The fix is fast: ask your provider for a fresh nomination form, name the person you want, and return it. We remind every Velati user to do this when they make a will.

What a will changes

A valid will under the Wills Act 1837 lets you leave your estate to whoever you choose. For cohabiting couples, that almost always means leaving the bulk of the estate to your partner — with substitute beneficiaries (typically your children, or close family) in case your partner predeceases you. It also lets you appoint executors, name guardians for any minor children, and specify gifts.

Velati is built specifically for this case. The questionnaire branches differently for cohabiting couples — we ask the joint-tenancy / tenants-in-common question early, prompt you about pension nominations, and screen for any 1975 Act eligible claimants who might bring a challenge. The plain-English review screen shows you exactly what the will does, in language you can read, before you pay.

What a will does not do

A will doesn't override pension nominations. It doesn't override the rules of survivorship for joint-tenancy property. It doesn't remove the possibility of a 1975 Act challenge by an eligible claimant (a former spouse, an adult child being unprovided for, a maintained dependant). Where any of these factors apply, we capture a structured letter of wishes alongside the will — non-binding, but the canonical evidence courts look at.

Are cohabitation rights changing?

The Law Commission published a comprehensive report in 2007 recommending statutory protection for cohabiting couples on separation and death. The recommendations have not been enacted. A more recent (2022) Women and Equalities Committee report repeated the call. As of writing, the law remains as set out above. We will update this article when (or if) that changes.