Couples from all over the world come to live and work in the UK and, like millions of others, many will choose to live together but not marry. However, the law governing unmarried couples varies greatly from country to country, and if you have come to the UK with expectations of what will happen if the relationship should come to an end, you may wish to give yourself that certainty.
We understand that the affairs of international families can be complicated and may include challenges such as working or holding asset overseas, different immigration statuses, complex tax matters and more. In this article, we look at some of the matters you may wish to consider when looking into protecting your assets using a cohabitation agreement.
What is a cohabitation agreement?
A cohabitation agreement can allow you (to a certain extent) to include similar provisions to the laws of your home country, or simply provide certainty around what will happen to assets held overseas should you and your partner separate.
Property
The law concerning property ownership in England and Wales may be vastly different from the laws of your home country or the country you are moving from. When entering into a cohabitation agreement, you may need to seek advice from a locally qualified property or family lawyer to understand the effect of a cohabitation agreement on the property held there. While many jurisdictions will find a UK cohabitation agreement to be enforceable, some will not. We can advise you fully on the effect of a cohabitation agreement on the division of property held overseas.
Financial arrangements
When you agree to live with someone, you may wish to make arrangements for how everyday living costs will be covered. Financial arrangements become more complicated where one party will frequently live or work overseas, or for couples where one party has moved and the other remains in their home country for some time.
You may wish to discuss with your partner who will pay for what before moving to the UK and who will cover any additional costs. Agreement around living or moving costs can be recorded in a cohabitation agreement and can provide you both with certainty and security moving forward.
Children
If you have children, either together or from a previous relationship, you may find that the legal status of parents in the UK is different to that of your home country.
You might want to take your children out of the country to visit family in your home country or to go on holiday. However, there are certain legal requirements for taking children out of the country, including needing permission from all of those with parental responsibility. You may wish to ensure there is a court order in place which allows you to take a child out of the country.
The law concerning cohabitation, financial provision for children and international parents is complex. Where a relationship breaks down and one parent wants to move away, this can present significant difficulties. You should seek specialist advice on this area.
Ill health and death
While a cohabitation agreement covers the arrangements for how you will live together and what might happen should the relationship break down, you may also wish to consider what will happen should one of you lose mental capacity or pass away.
While these matters are generally not dealt with in a cohabitation agreement, this is a good opportunity to look at other ways in which you can protect yourself and your partner.
You may have a Will or Power of Attorney set up in your home country, but it is essential that you also take steps to create these important legal documents in the UK too.
In England and Wales, cohabiting couples are not automatically afforded the same rights as married couples. This means that your partner may not inherit from your estate without a valid Will in place if you pass away. Similarly, no one has an automatic right to make decisions on your behalf should you lose mental capacity – not even your next of kin. As a result, you should set up a Power of Attorney that gives you security and protection.
Contact Our Cohabitation UK Solicitors Today
Our UK offices are located in Manchester, Birmingham and London. Call our multi-cultural cohabitation experts today on 0330 107 0107 or arrange a call back.
This article is for general information only and does not constitute legal or professional advice. Please note that the law may have changed since this article was published.
F v F - Acted for a German husband in a complex financial remedy matter. He decided to instruct IMD Solicitors after he had lost trust in his previously instructed solicitors and feared that he would not achieve a favourable outcome from the proceedings. The relevant assets were spread across the globe with some located in the UK (including a multi-million pound business), Gibraltar, Spain, Dubai, and Poland. The overall value of assets exceeded £24 million. The husband had been cut off from the matrimonial assets and excluded from control of the business that had been established by his family. The case involved the instruction of numerous experts, for business valuations, Capital Gains Tax reports, and opinions on the enforcement of orders in foreign jurisdictions, and dealing with several applications, including applications for orders to freeze assets, prevent the disposition of assets, for the joinder of parties, and to litigate conduct issues. The final result exceeded the client’s expectations.
L v L - We were instructed by a mother in a complex international children matter. She was required by orders of the UK courts to return the child to the UK from Poland. She had travelled with the child to Poland but, following unsuccessful application to extend her stay there in August 2017, she decided not to return to the UK because the child disclosed sexual abuse by a member of the paternal family and the father. In September 2018, the Polish court dismissed the father’s Hague Convention application for the child's return on the basis of Article 13(b), a decision which the father appealed. In March 2019, the father applied to the UK High Court for an order for the child’s return pursuant to the procedure set out in Article 11(6) – (8) of the Brussels IIA Regulation. Despite the father's unsuccessful Hague Convention application in Poland, the UK court ordered the return of the child. Article 11 does not allow the court of the returning country much discretion. After all of this, the mother instructed IMD Solicitors to apply to discharge the orders of the UK Court for the return of the child. Even in the face of the fact that most applications to discharge such return orders fail, we succeeded. We are currently awaiting a decision in the UK courts on a further application for the transfer of jurisdiction to the Polish courts where the mother resides with the child.
G v P - We represent a Spanish mother in respect of an urgent application for a Child Arrangements Order and Specific Issue Order in the UK seeking the relocation of the child to Spain. This was after the return of the child to the UK under Hague Convection proceedings which this mother lost in Spain.
She was asking for an order for the relocation of the child back to Spain and an urgent interim Child Arrangements Order to allow her to see the child pending the final outcome of the UK proceedings. IMD successfully argued that, regardless of the return of the child to the UK under the Hague Convention, the mother should be allowed unsupervised overnight contact with the child. We were delighted to be able to secure her contact with the child for Christmas and she said that it was the best Christmas gift she could have wished for. The outcome of the application for the relocation is pending.
S v V - We currently represent the father in Child Arrangements Order proceedings issued by the mother in relation to variation of a UK order made in the face of numerous other international proceedings. He is an Italian National who has been living in France for the last 20 years and the mother is a Lithuanian national. The child is now 11 years old and proceedings concerning the child have been ongoing in various jurisdictions for the majority of the child`s life. Contested divorce proceedings including child arrangements took place in Monaco. The French Court and authorities were also involved, and various proceedings had been ongoing between parties since 2013 in France and Monaco.
The parties’ divorce was pronounced in Monaco. Thereafter, in December 2020, the mother submitted an application to relocate to England with the child, and the relocation took place in June 2021. Upon relocation, the she lodged a child arrangement order application, seeking to register a judgment made in Monaco and to vary the same in respect of the contact arrangements between the father and the child. The father seeks for the child’s return to Monaco.
Due to the parties’ mutual allegations and the associated international elements, various authorities and courts that have been involved in the case, the local authority has become involved with the family and a guardian has been instructed to represent the child in the UK proceedings. At present, these proceedings in England are ongoing and the outcome of the professional reports regarding the family are awaited.
P v P - We have acted for the Respondent Husband in relation to the financial remedy proceedings in the UK. The parties had various assets in the UK and Romania consisting mainly of the portfolio of properties but conduct issues were raised by the Wife due to a business of the Husband over which she had lost control and her allegations of dissipation of assets. The value of assets excluding the business were in a region of £3 million.
K v K - We act in financial remedy proceedings for a wife who is a Polish national. The matter's complexity mainly comes from a dispute between the parties around land in Poland. Its value was initially in dispute but was then assessed by a joint expert to be in the region of half a million pounds. The total assets in this case are estimated to be worth over £1 million. The land in Poland is a subject to contract with a third party and is being leased as a photovoltaic (solar) farm. The division of the land to achieve an equal share of the assets is complicated due to the contract in place and plans for the future use of the land. Currently the parties are awaiting a final hearing but efforts are being made to reach a settlement with the aid of alternative dispute resolution and in order to save the parties money and avoid further delays.
R v O - We acted pro bono and worked together with a law firm in Poland to ensure that the Costa Rican Mother regains access to her child. The Mother's only child was abducted from the UK in 2014. The Mother was successful with the abduction case and the UK family courts ordered the return of the child. The orders were recognised in Poland but unfortunately due to various issues with the Mother's immigration status and court's delays in Poland, the orders were never enforced. The Mother was facing removal from the UK and prospects of never seeing her child again. We have corresponded with various courts in Poland dealing with international abduction matters and we decided that an application for contact should be issued rather than any proceedings for further enforcement of the orders, as the Mother had not seen the child for around 7 years. At the same we secured the Mother's stay in the UK making successful outside of immigration rules application to extend her stay. We now receive regular photos from the Mother with her daughter, as face to face contact is taking place. We helped to secure an order of the Polish courts for the Mother to see the child regularly in person, whilst when she instructed us she was facing a prospect of never seeing her child again and being deported to Costa Rica.
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