Cohabitation
Agree your rights in a 'common law' relationship with a cohabitation agreement.
There's a misconception that if you live with a partner in a 'common law' relationship, it automatically entitles you to the same rights as a married couple.
It doesn't.
If you split up or one partner dies, the law simply sees it as two people sharing a house, with no special rights in terms of dividing assets, paying maintenance, property share or ownership, being regarded as next of kin or rights of inheritance.
To give you both similar rights to a married couple, we can create a Cohabitation Agreement for you both to sign. (If you're in a same sex couple, you might find a Civil Partnership is the way forward.)
It needs to be done through the proper legal channels, with advice from experienced relationship solicitors. The agreement sets out the rights of each partner and is tailored to your specific partnership. It can cover property ownership, inheritance, agreement on the education of children, ownership of assets, life insurance and nomination in a pension fund or a death in service arrangement.
We'll make sure it's carefully written, so that it's correctly interpreted under the law, so you feel completely reassured about your future.