Cohabitation Agreement Lawyer
Protect Your Rights with a Legally Binding Cohabitation Agreement
Table of Contents
What Is a Cohabitation Agreement?
If you are in a relationship but not married and have commingled assets by way of jointly held real property and accounts, you are not afforded the protections of the family court in dividing your assets and debts. While the Master in Equity is an avenue that can be explored and potentially utilized to disentangle your assets, this too has its drawbacks including significant expense and time in litigation.
Because of these prospects, it is a good idea for you and your partner to consider executing a cohabitation agreement.
A cohabitation agreement is a binding legal contract between you and your partner that sets forth both parties’ assets coming into the relationship, how property will be divided upon the demise of the relationship, the joint intentions of the parties on how to divide jointly acquired assets, and a clear understanding of each party’s rights and obligations upon separation.
Why You Need a Cohabitation Agreement
The purpose of the agreement is to lessen the chance of conflict between you and your partner upon separation using a clearly defined agreement discussing how to divide your assets. This agreement will then help you avoid significant litigation and cost to each of you.
Specific terms of your cohabitation agreement can be added that remove the prospect of any legal battles in the court system, avoiding potentially long, protracted and expensive litigation. Any disputes can be decided swiftly in a private setting such as arbitration or mediation.
Cohabitation agreements allow for quick resolution of any property and financial disputes so that you can have peace of mind during a turbulent time.
What Can Be Included in a Cohabitation Agreement?
Cohabitation Agreements can include how you desire to divide your individual and jointly titled assets upon the end of the relationship. This can include real property, personal property such as accounts, furnishings, the division of debt, and even pet ownership and visitation.
In the event of a dispute, it is encouraged to have an arbitration or mediation provision to allow you a mechanism to swiftly and privately settle your disputes.
It can also define issues of support or use of a home and payment of household expenses during a separation and pending some other event, such as the sale of the jointly shared home.
Dispute Resolution Methods
Because you would be executing an agreement, failure of either party to perform under the terms of the agreement could be deemed a breach of contract and subject to court intervention at that time. Generally, a Master in Equity court, which is a part of our Circuit Court, would hear and decide these issues. Unfortunately, depending on the county you are in, the court system can be slow, meaning your case is left unresolved for a long period of time.
Arbitration is a private and binding alternative dispute resolution mechanism that the parties can attend. While the parties must pay for an arbitrator to make a final determination on the matter, the resolution is much swifter than a court proceeding and is held in a private setting, not in a court.
Mediation is a private alternative dispute resolution mechanism that allows a third-party neutral to assist in getting the parties to reach an amicable resolution. Unlike an arbitrator, a mediator cannot make a final decision for the parties. This means that if you cannot come to an agreement on your own with the assistance of a mediator, there will be an impasse declared and you will have to litigate the issues.
How Cohabitation Agreements Differ from Prenuptial Agreements
Cohabitation agreements and prenuptial agreements are not the same. Prenuptial agreements are signed in contemplation of getting married and set out each party’s obligations and how they intend to divide their assets upon dissolution of the marriage.
A Cohabitation Agreement is for unmarried people in a relationship who acquire assets or debt together. Because the parties are not married, they are not subject to the jurisdiction of our family courts which can only divide assets and debt of marriages. This is why it is even more important to have an agreement in place to avoid protracted and expensive litigation in the Circuit Court.
Our Legal Services for Cohabitation Agreements
We assist unmarried individuals in drafting detailed agreements to address each party’s responsibilities upon the demise of the relationship. Our goal is always to consider the inherent issues but also future pitfalls in drafting an agreement.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Meet Carrie Warner
Family Law is All I have Ever Known
My late father, Jan Warner, was an accomplished and widely known family law attorney and nationally syndicated author in South Carolina, so this area of law runs in my blood. It is all I have ever known, and I cannot imagine doing anything else.