Cohabitation Agreements (online and print)

Resolution’s Cohabitation Agreements is an essential tool to create binding cohabitation agreements including property, disclosure, gifts, business interests, provision and support, life insurance, mortgage payments, and costs. It contains useful checklists of what to include, as well as importantly what not to include, to make the agreement enforceable.

Detailed footnotes set out the case law, legislation and practical pointers so that individual agreements are used with care and in context.

What is a Cohabitation Agreement?

A Cohabitation Agreement is a set of precedent clauses designed to enable a cohabiting couple’s property and finances and future financial support issues to be pulled together in one binding document.

What do these precedents do?

Used correctly, they should provide an all-encompassing agreement which addresses all matters the  couple have agreed upon and which is binding and therefore enforceable as a contract.

How to use them

The agreement is available in print and as an electronic template which allows individual clauses to be adopted on a bespoke basis for your clients, or for you to generate the entire precedents template to be tailored accordingly. Clients details can be input into the template to flow into the specific clauses.

Contractually binding

Cohabitation Agreements has been drafted so as to be binding. It is to be executed as a deed, witnessed and requires no consideration.

USE OF AGREEMENTS

The agreement includes a banner warning that the document creates legal obligations that determine rights in relation to the family home and other financial issues. It is important that parties do not sign an agreement unless they understand it and intend to be bound by its terms. Clients must be made aware of this, and for this reason Resolution does not advise that these Agreements are used or signed without seeking independent legal advice.

Contents include:

1. Heading
2. Recital: Independent advice
3. Recital: Intention to create legal relations
4. Recital: Agreement freely entered into
5. Recital: Disclosure
6. Recital: Agreement not to disclose information
7. Recital: Terms of this agreement
8. Recital: Impact of marriage or civil partnership on agreement
9. Recital: Separate income
10. Recital: Definition of net proceeds of sale
11. Agreement: To retain control of real and personal property
12. Agreement: Ownership of pre-acquired personal property to remain unchanged
13. Agreement: Future personal property – owned/acquired jointly
14. Agreement: Joint use of personal property
15. Agreement: Future personal property – acquired separately
16. Agreement: Gifts
17. Agreement: Re business interests during cohabitation
18. Agreement: Re joint interests and employment on termination – limited company
19. Agreement: Re joint interests and employment on termination – partnership
20. Agreement: Re debts
21. Agreement: To make provision/not make provision on death
22. Agreement: Obligation to support during cohabitation
23. Agreement: To make lifetime gifts
24. Agreement: Lasting power of attorney
25. Agreement: Bank and building society accounts – joint
26. Agreement: Bank and building society accounts – maintain separate accounts
27. Agreement: Credit/store cards
28. Agreement: The car – owned by one party
29. Agreement: The car – joint ownership
30. Agreement: The car – provision by one party
31. Agreement: Pension and death-in-service benefits
32. Agreement: To take out or assign, and maintain, a life assurance policy
33. Agreement: Living expenses
34. Agreement: Mortgage payments
35. Agreement: Ownership and occupation of the property – one party’s sole name
36. Agreement: The property – declaration of equal ownership
37. Agreement: The property – unequal shares
38. Agreement: The property: whether cost of repairs/improvements should have no impact on share
39. Agreement: Further provisions about the property
40. Agreement: Replacement property
41. Agreement: Joint property – option to buy out the other’s share
42. Agreement: To sell
43. Agreement: Responsibility for tax on sale/transfer
44. Agreement: Obligation to support post-separation
45. Agreement: Financial support for children post-separation
46. Agreement: Terminating events
47. Agreement: Variation of this agreement
48. Review clause
49. Agreement: Mediation/collaboration/arbitration in the event of a dispute
50. Agreement: Costs
51. APPENDICES – Statements of financial and personal disclosure
52. Execution clause

Once purchased, you can access the online agreements on our Online orders and agreements site.

You can also purchase the agreements in other formats:

Online-only from £99