Alexandra Funnell
Co-Head of Department, Partner
Spring 2026 marks the start of the most significant shake-up of cohabiting couples’ rights in a generation. For the more than 3.5 million couples in England and Wales who live together but are not married, the long-promised government Cohabitation Reform 2026 consultation has finally arrived.
If you live with your partner and are wondering what this could mean for you, here is a straightforward summary of what is being proposed, where the law stands today and what you can do in the meantime.
For decades, family lawyers have been raising the same concern. The number of couples choosing to live together rather than marry has more than doubled in the last thirty years, but the law has not moved with them. When a cohabiting relationship ends, whether through separation or the death of a partner, the legal protection available is a fraction of what married couples can rely on.
With the Cohabitation Reform 2026, the Government has committed in its manifesto to consult on reform, and that consultation is now opening in Spring 2026. It will run alongside a wider review of financial provision on divorce, with the stated aim of bringing more consistency across marriage, civil partnerships and cohabitation.
Reform of this kind takes time. While the consultation is starting this year, the changes themselves are unlikely to take effect until well after it has closed. The law as it stands today is still the law that applies to you right now.
Despite what most people believe, there is no such thing as common law marriage in England and Wales. It is one of the most persistent myths in family law, and it leaves a lot of people very exposed when relationships end.
As things stand, cohabiting couples have no automatic right to a share of property held only in their partner’s name, no right to maintenance after separation, no right to a pension share and no automatic right to inherit if their partner dies without a Will. None of this changes after one year, ten years or thirty years together.
Some claims can sometimes be made, for example under the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996, the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 or Schedule 1 of the Children Act 1989 where there are children involved. These routes can help in specific situations, but they are narrow, expensive to bring and very far from the protection a married spouse would have as a matter of course.
The Government has not yet published its exact proposals, but the direction is reasonably clear from the work already done by the Law Commission and from public comments by ministers.
A distinct legal scheme for cohabitants is the most likely outcome. Couples would qualify after meeting a threshold, usually a minimum number of years living together or having a child together. Once qualified, they would have access to a defined set of remedies on separation, probably focused on putting right economic disadvantage caused by the relationship rather than full financial provision in the way the courts treat divorce.
A few things are worth flagging now.
Any reform will almost certainly include an opt-out mechanism, allowing couples who do not want the new rights to apply to enter a written agreement to that effect. This is what other jurisdictions, including Scotland and Australia, already do.
The new rights are unlikely to be backdated. Couples who separate before the new law comes into force will still be governed by the current rules.
And even when the new Cohabitation Reform 2026 scheme arrives, it will sit alongside the existing law, not replace every part of it. A clear written agreement is likely to remain the most reliable way for unmarried couples to set out who owns what and what should happen if the relationship ends.
It will be some time before any reform is on the statute book, and longer still before it is in force. In the meantime, the practical steps that have always protected cohabiting couples are exactly the same.
A cohabitation agreement sets out, in writing, who owns what, who pays what and what should happen to your shared assets if you separate. It is a calm, sensible conversation to have while the relationship is in a good place, and it removes much of the uncertainty that ends up causing pain later.
If you own a home together, the way the property is held matters too. Owning as joint tenants or as tenants in common produces very different outcomes if one of you dies. Reviewing this and severing the joint tenancy where appropriate is one of those important things that is easy to overlook.
And if either of you has not made a Will, now is the time. The intestacy rules do not recognise cohabiting partners at all, regardless of how long you have been together. Without a Will, your partner could be left with nothing, while your estate passes to relatives you may not even be in touch with.
Our family law team at Hart Reade in Eastbourne, Hailsham and Polegate advises cohabiting couples across East Sussex every day. We will explain clearly where you stand legally as the law is today, talk through what reform might mean for your situation and put proper protections in place that work both now and under any new scheme.
We offer a free 30-minute appointment with our family team for new clients. Whether you have lived together for years and want to formalise things, are buying a home together for the first time or are working through the end of a relationship, we will give you honest, plain-English advice.
To book your free 30-minute appointment to find out more about the Cohabitation Reform 2026, please call 01323 727321.
Please note the above is for information purposes only and is intended to be a short summary. It should not be treated as a comprehensive guide and should not be acted on without qualified legal advice.
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