New Laws for Cohabiting Couples: Where the 2026 Reforms Stand

If you live with your partner without being married or in a civil partnership, you may have seen headlines this year suggesting the law is about to change. It is a subject that causes a great deal of worry, particularly for people who have built a home and a family with someone over many years and are only now discovering how little the law protects them.

This article sets out what has actually been proposed, who it would apply to, where the reforms stand today, and what you can do now to protect yourself while the law remains as it is.

Why the Government Is Reviewing the Law

Living together without marrying has become one of the most common ways of forming a family in England and Wales. The Government’s consultation records that more than 3.5 million couples now live together without marrying or entering a civil partnership, more than double the number 30 years ago. By 2031, around one in four families is projected to be cohabiting, and in 2022 just over half of babies were born to unmarried parents.

The law has not kept pace with that change. When a cohabiting couple separates, there is no dedicated family law framework to divide what they have built. Instead, disputes are resolved through property and trust law, chiefly the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996, which was never designed with separating couples in mind. Claims for children are made separately, either through the Child Maintenance Service or under Schedule 1 to the Children Act 1989.

Perhaps the most striking figure in the consultation is this one: almost half of people in England and Wales believe that common law marriage exists. It does not. No amount of time spent living together, and no number of children, creates the rights that marriage creates. Many people only discover this at the worst possible moment.

The Government has also been clear that the current position can leave people at particular risk. Where one partner has stepped back from work to care for children, or where someone is financially dependent on an abusive partner, the absence of legal protection can make it far harder to leave. Strengthening protections in these situations is one of four stated aims of the reform, alongside fair outcomes for children, clarity of outcomes, and preserving the distinct status of marriage.

Expert insight: Our experience

One of our clients had cohabited with their partner for over 15 years, during which time they had also had a child together. As their partner had encouraged them not to work during their relationship, they had been deliberately prevented from contributing towards the house deposit or upkeep, and, as such, did not have any rights to it under property law.

Recognising that the situation was more intricate than just this reading, we advised our client accordingly and successfully negotiated a settlement where they received a fair portion of the equity accrued in the property.

What Is Being Proposed for Couples Who Separate

The consultation proposes a new statutory framework for eligible cohabiting couples. It is deliberately narrower than the framework that applies on divorce, because the Government has said it wants to preserve the distinct legal status of marriage. The main features are as follows.

• Committed relationships only. The framework would apply to adults in long-term, committed and interdependent relationships, not to flatmates, siblings or short-term arrangements.
• Automatic, with the option to opt out. Protection would apply automatically to couples who meet the criteria, but both partners could agree to opt out.
• Children come first. As in divorce, the welfare of any child of the family would be the court’s first consideration.
• Legal ownership is the starting point. Each person would keep what they legally own. The court would depart from that only where necessary to meet defined needs. There would be no equal sharing principle.
• Needs are assessed more narrowly than in divorce. Where legal ownership does not meet a person’s needs, the court would look at future financial requirements such as housing, income and pension provision, but not discretionary or lifestyle needs.
• A two-year time limit for claims. Any financial claim would need to be brought within two years of separation. Unlike divorce, there would be no open-ended window for financial claims.
• No better outcome than marriage. A cohabiting couple could not achieve a more favourable result than a divorcing couple in comparable circumstances.
• A strong emphasis on a clean break. Ongoing maintenance between former partners would be limited to exceptional and time-limited circumstances, such as long-term ill health.

In practical terms, this is a safety net rather than a division of assets. It is designed to prevent hardship, not to treat living together as though it were a marriage.

Who Would Qualify Under the Proposed Framework

The proposed definition is two people living together as a couple in an enduring family relationship. On top of that, a couple would need to meet the following conditions.

• They have lived together for at least three years, or they live together and have a child together or a child treated as a child of the family. Where there is a child, no minimum period would apply.
• Both partners are aged 18 or over.
• They are not married to or in a civil partnership with each other, and they are not too closely related to have married.

Because relationships do not always fit neatly into a definition, the court would also work through a checklist of factors when deciding whether a couple falls within the scheme. These are expected to include whether there was a joint household, the stability of the relationship, how finances were arranged, responsibility for children, and whether the relationship was publicly recognised.

What Would Change If a Partner Dies Without a Will

This part of the proposals receives less attention than it deserves. Under the current intestacy rules, which apply when someone dies without a valid will, a surviving cohabiting partner is not among the relatives who inherit at all. It does not matter how long the couple lived together or whether they had children. The estate passes to children, parents or other relatives instead.

At present, the only route for a surviving partner is a claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, which generally requires the couple to have lived together for at least two continuous years immediately before the death. That is a court claim, at a point in life when very few people have the energy for one.

The consultation proposes three changes.

1. Extending intestacy rights so that qualifying cohabitants inherit automatically where a partner dies without a valid will, subject to meeting a clear definition and a minimum period together.
2. Aligning a qualifying cohabitant’s right to administer their partner’s estate with any new inheritance entitlement, which should reduce delay and dispute.
3. Removing the qualifying period for a claim for financial provision from a deceased partner’s estate where the couple had children together.

Expert insight: None of these proposals are in force yet

If you are living with a partner and either of you has not made a will, that remains the single most urgent thing to put right, whatever happens to the law.

Where Things Stand Now, and When the Law Might Change

It helps to see the process laid out, because the distance between a consultation and a change in the law is often underestimated.

• The consultation opened on 5 June 2026 and closed on 14 August 2026.
• The Government considers the responses received from the public, family law practitioners, the judiciary, charities and academics.
• The Government publishes its formal response, setting out which proposals it intends to take forward and in what form.
• Draft legislation is prepared to give effect to those decisions.
• A Bill is introduced in Parliament and passes through both Houses, where it may be amended.
• If the Bill receives Royal Assent, the new law takes effect on a commencement date, which can be some time afterwards.

At the date of writing, the process has reached the second stage. The Government has not yet published its response. The consultation itself says only that any legislation will be introduced when parliamentary time allows, which is not a commitment to a particular date. Realistically, this is a change to plan for rather than to wait for.

What to Do While the Law Is Unchanged

The proposals may take years to arrive, and they may change before they do. Everything below is available to you now.

• Put a cohabitation agreement in place. This records what you each own, how you share outgoings, and what happens to the home and other assets if you separate. It is the closest thing to certainty currently available to unmarried couples.
• Check how your home is legally owned. Whether you own your property as joint tenants or tenants in common makes a substantial difference on separation or death. If one of you contributed more, a declaration of trust can record that properly. See our blog: Buying a House Together When Not Married.
• Make or update your will. Because cohabitants do not inherit automatically, a will is the only reliable way to provide for your partner. Review it after buying a home or having a child.
• Keep a record of what you contribute. Deposit payments, mortgage contributions and money spent on improving the property can matter a great deal if ownership is ever disputed. Evidence is much easier to gather as you go than years later.
• Review pension and life insurance nominations. These often pass outside your will, and an out-of-date nomination can leave a partner with nothing.
• Take advice before a major step. Moving in together, buying together, or putting savings into a property held in your partner’s name are all moments where an hour of advice can prevent years of difficulty. See our blog: How Much Does a Cohabitation Agreement Cost.

What These Proposals Would Not Change

• They would not create common law marriage. The Government has been explicit that marriage keeps its distinct status.
• There would be no automatic equal split. The sharing principle that applies on divorce would not apply to cohabitants.
• Child maintenance would be unaffected. That remains a matter for the Child Maintenance Service, and applies regardless of whether parents were ever married.
• They would not apply across the whole of the United Kingdom. These proposals are for England and Wales. Scotland has had its own framework for cohabitants since the Family Law (Scotland) Act 2006, and Northern Ireland has a separate position.
• They would not remove the value of planning ahead. An agreement and a will would still give you far more certainty than any default statutory framework.

When to Seek Legal Advice

Most people who contact us about cohabitation do so at a point of change, and often later than they would have liked. It is worth speaking to a family solicitor if any of the following apply to you.

• You are separating and the home is in your partner’s sole name.
• You contributed to a deposit, to mortgage payments, or to renovations on a property you do not legally own.
• Your partner has died and there is no will, or the will does not provide for you.
• You are about to move in together, buy a property together, or contribute savings to your partner’s property.
• You gave up work or reduced your hours to care for children, and you are worried about what that means financially.
• You are unsure whether an agreement you signed some years ago still reflects your circumstances.

If you are worried about the financial consequences of leaving a relationship, or you feel unable to leave because of money, please do speak to someone. That situation is more common than people realise and there is help available.

Speak to Our Family Law Team

Fullers Family Law advises unmarried couples across England and Wales on cohabitation agreements, property disputes on separation, and provision for children. We can help you understand where you stand now and put the right protection in place, whatever happens to the proposed reforms. We are a specialist family law firm, and our approach is supportive and non-judgmental.

If you would like to talk it through, book a confidential 30-minute consultation with one of our team.