Cohabiting Couples Law: What Could Change for Unmarried Partners

Moving in together is one of those milestones that feels simple at the time. Boxes everywhere, a shared kettle, and not a thought about legal paperwork. Yet for the many couples who live together without marrying, the rules that apply if things go wrong are far thinner than most people assume. Here is a plain look at the numbers and at the reforms being discussed under cohabiting couples law in England and Wales.

How common is living together, and how long does it last?

Official figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that cohabitation keeps growing, but many such relationships are fairly short. For adults aged 16 to 59 whose cohabiting relationship did not end in marriage, the average first stretch of living together lasts 46 months. More than a third of those end within two years. A second cohabitation tends to be shorter again, at an average of 34 months.

The wider picture has shifted too. The share of adults who have never married or entered a civil partnership rose from nearly 33% in 2015 to 35% in 2024, with the biggest jumps among people aged 25 to 34 and 45 to 69.

• 62% of adults live as part of a couple, with nearly half of those having a legal partner
• Nearly 11% are cohabiting without a legal partnership
• A further 2.2% are cohabiting after a divorce or the death of a legal partner

Cohabiting couples law and the common law marriage myth

Around 3.5 million couples in the UK choose to live together without marrying or forming a civil partnership. When they separate, there is limited legal protection for them. Disputes are generally settled under property and trust law rather than the family law that governs divorce, and that can be especially tricky when children are involved.

Suzy Hamshaw, a partner in the family team at law firm Gardner Leader, says the biggest trend she sees is a lack of awareness. Many clients are surprised to learn that a legally recognised “common law marriage” does not exist in England and Wales, however long a couple has shared a home. The misunderstanding often only comes to light when a relationship breaks down.

What reforms are on the table?

A government consultation called “A fairer end to relationships” was set to close on 14 August 2026. It covers what could be one of the biggest shake-ups of family law in England and Wales in a generation. The ideas being considered include:

• Automatic rights for partners after three years of living together, or two years if the couple have children
• Powers for family courts to make decisions about property and pensions
• Inheritance rights for cohabiting partners

Separation can bring tangled disputes over property, investments, pensions and inheritance, so it is easy to see why the debate matters.

Not everyone wants more rules

Plenty of couples are happy with the way things are. Some deliberately choose to cohabit so they can protect wealth built up in earlier relationships, an inheritance, a business or personal investments. Others make their own arrangements, such as a cohabitation agreement, a declaration of trust or some estate planning that sets out what they would like to happen if they split.

That is why a balanced debate is so important, and why couples were encouraged to take part in the consultation so the outcome reflects ordinary people rather than only lawyers, academics and specialist groups.

The big question for lawmakers

After the consultation, the challenge is no longer whether reform is needed. It is how much protection should apply automatically and how much should be left to individuals to arrange for themselves. Whatever is decided will affect families, property ownership, wealth protection and succession planning across England and Wales.

If you share a home with a partner and have never talked about what would happen if you parted, it is worth having that conversation sooner rather than later. It is rarely romantic, but it can save a great deal of stress down the line.