Cohabitation Rights
If you're living with your partner but aren't married, you may still have important legal rights. Irish law provides certain protections for cohabiting couples, particularly when the relationship ends.
What Is Cohabitation?
Cohabitation refers to two adults living together in an intimate and committed relationship who are not married to each other or in a civil partnership. The Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010 introduced legal protections for cohabiting couples in Ireland.
To qualify as a cohabitant under Irish law, you generally need to have lived together for at least five years, or two years if you have children together. These qualifying periods allow you to apply to court for certain orders if the relationship breaks down.
The court can make orders for maintenance, property adjustment, pension adjustment, and provision from the estate of a deceased cohabitant. However, these rights are more limited than those available to married couples.
The crucial difference from marriage is that nothing is automatic. A married spouse has entitlements simply by virtue of the marriage. A cohabitant has to apply to court under the redress scheme and prove financial dependence that arose from the relationship. Meeting the time threshold gets you through the door. It does not decide the outcome.
Who This Applies To
- Unmarried couples who have lived together for 5+ years
- Unmarried couples with children who have lived together for 2+ years
- Same-sex and opposite-sex couples equally
- Couples where one partner is financially dependent on the other
What the Process Involves
- 1
Check whether you are a qualifying cohabitant
The first question is always whether you meet the statutory definition: living together in an intimate and committed relationship for the required period, and neither of you married to someone else in a way that excludes you. This is where a lot of claims fall down, so it is worth establishing early.
- 2
Establish financial dependence
The redress scheme is not a division of assets. You must show that you are financially dependent and that the dependence arises from the relationship, for example because you gave up work to raise children or to support your partner's career or business.
- 3
Mind the time limit
Applications under the redress scheme must be brought within a strict period after the relationship ends. Missing it can end an otherwise good claim, so take advice as early as possible rather than waiting.
- 4
Gather evidence of contributions
Mortgage payments, renovation costs, bills, childcare, unpaid work in a family business: all of it may be relevant. Contemporaneous records such as bank transfers matter far more than recollection.
- 5
Negotiate or apply to court
Most cohabitation disputes resolve by negotiation, often alongside a separate property law claim about beneficial ownership of the home. If they do not, an application is made to court for the relevant orders.
How Long It Takes
Straightforward cases where the parties agree on the sale or transfer of a shared home can be dealt with relatively quickly. Contested redress applications, especially where the qualifying period or the extent of dependence is disputed, take longer and often require detailed evidence about the history of the relationship.
Two separate strands can run at once: a claim under the 2010 Act redress scheme, and a general property law claim about who beneficially owns the house. They are decided on different principles, and one can succeed where the other fails.
What It Costs and What Drives the Cost
Costs depend heavily on whether the case is one issue or several. A dispute limited to the sale of a jointly owned house is cheaper than a contested redress application that requires evidence about the whole history of the relationship.
The main cost drivers are: disputes about whether you qualify at all, property valuations, tracing contributions to a property over many years, and any parallel claim about beneficial ownership.
The cheapest intervention by a long way is a cohabitation agreement made while the relationship is working. It sets out in advance what happens to the home, savings and contributions, and it removes most of what people otherwise litigate about.
Documents You Will Need
Having these gathered before your first conversation saves time and money. If you cannot access some of them, bring what you have.
- Evidence of the dates you started and stopped living together, such as tenancy agreements, utility bills or correspondence
- Birth certificates for any children of the relationship
- Title deeds or Land Registry folio for the shared home
- Mortgage statements and records of who made the payments
- Bank statements showing contributions to the household
- Receipts or invoices for renovations or improvements you paid for
- Evidence of financial dependence, for example reduced or ceased earnings
- Any cohabitation agreement, declaration of trust or will