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The legal rights of unmarried couples, regarding property.

In the event of the breakup of a relationship where the couple are not married what happens to the property?

In many cases a couple will move in together but the property is in the name of only one of the them, it may be that they have owned the property for sometime and invited their partner to move in.

Does the person not named on the deeds have any rights to a share in the property?

Recent case law has shown that whilst the person not named on the deeds does not have rights to the property, it was the case that they had been assured a home and because of those assurances the court did award a payment because of the loss they had suffered acting on those assurances and giving up their home.
This case shows that courts will look to award damages to those that have lost out because of a relationship split.

We would recommend that all unmarried couples look to construct a cohabitation agreement which details the agreement and responsibilities between those involved and takes out any problems in the event of the relationship not working out, speak to a local family or litigation solicitor for advice.

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