27 Living Together and Your Rights if You Separate
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2. Why is living together different from being married?
4. Making a ´living together agreement´
5. When you are living together
6. If you or your partner dies
7. State benefits for people living together
11. Arrangements if you have children
13. Sorting out other items you own
15. Terms used in matters to do with living together
Civil partnership
A same-sex partnership that has been registered under the Civil Partnership Act 2004. Someone in such a partnership is called a 'civil partner'.
Cohabitant/cohabitee
These words mean the same thing. They mean someone who is living as one of an unmarried couple, as if they were husband and wife or in an 'equivalent relationship'.
Estate
The assets and property, including homes, cars, investments, money and belongings, that you leave when you die.
Jointly and severally
This means that you are both responsible for something, generally a debt. If one of you does not pay, the other can be pursued for all the money. You can't defend yourself by saying that the other person should pay half.
Joint tenants or tenancy
You are each treated as holding an equal share, but while the joint tenancy remains neither of you can take the other person's share. If one of you dies, the other inherits the whole property automatically. You cannot leave your share to someone else in your will.
Parental responsibility
All the rights and duties that go with parenthood, such as the right to consent to medical treatment, the right to choose a child's name, religion and schooling, the duty to care for and protect the child.
Parental responsibility agreement
This can be made by the child's father and mother, or by the people who have parental responsibility, or by a step-parent who is married to or a civil partner of one of the parents. There is an official form for this, which must be formally signed and registered at the Principal Registry of the Family Division.
Precedent
A guideline or template legal document that you can adapt for your own situation.
Tenants or tenancy in common
You hold the property in shares and you can state how much you each hold when you buy the property. (If you don't state this, the law says the shares are equal.) The shares are separate, so you can leave your share to someone else in your will.
This leaflet is published by the Legal Service Commission (LSC). It was written in association with Imogen Clout, a solicitor specialising in family law.
Latest version: August 2006