Cohabitation

Cohabitation

Statutory definitions of cohabitation

Cohabitants are treated differently from married couples or civil partners, in particular in their property rights, their rights in relation to children and their rights on their partner’s death. There are various and varying statutory definitions of ‘cohabitation’, for example:

•
references to ‘cohabitants’ as defined in section 62(1)(a) of the Family Law Act 1996 (FLA 1996)
•
references to whether a couple are living in the same household as a married couple or civil partners, eg in sections 1(1A) and 1(1B) of the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 (I(PFD)A 1975), regarding eligibility to apply under I(PFD)A 1975
•
section 144(4) of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 in which 'a couple' is defined as a married couple, two people who are civil partners of each other, or two people (whether of different sexes or the same sex) living as partners in an enduring family relationship

There have been various Cohabitation Bills but none has yet been made law.

For further guidance and commentary on proposed legislation concerning cohabitants, see Practice Note: Statutory and other definitions of cohabitation.

Definitions

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