For many couples who meet on a dating app, moving in together is the next big step, and it is also a financial and legal one. The law treats a couple who live together very differently from a married couple, and the gap surprises many people. This guide summarises Citizens Advice guidance for England, which says that generally you will have fewer rights if you are living together than if you are married, and notes a government consultation on possible reform. It is general information, not legal advice. Citizens Advice publishes separate advice for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, so readers there should use those pages.
“Common law” partners do not have special status
Citizens Advice says there is no legal definition of living together, and that couples who live together are sometimes called common-law partners, but this is just another way of saying they live together as a couple. It advises that couples can formalise some aspects by drawing up a living together agreement, also called a cohabitation contract, outlining each partner’s rights and obligations, and a “declaration of trust” setting out how they share property. It recommends getting help from a family law solicitor to make either.
Bank accounts
- Separate accounts. Neither partner can access money held in the other’s account, and if one dies the balance belongs to that person’s estate and cannot be used until the estate is settled.
- Joint accounts. Both partners have access regardless of who pays in. If the relationship ends and the couple cannot agree who the money belongs to, a court might have to decide, and a partner who never used the account may find it difficult to claim a right to it.
The guide to protecting financial information is a useful companion for recent relationships.
Debts
Citizens Advice says you are liable for debts in your own name only, but not for debts that are only in your partner’s name. You may be responsible for the whole of debts in joint names and for others where you have “joint and several” responsibility. It gives council tax as an example: in England and Wales, if you owe council tax, you and your partner are both responsible for the debt, regardless of which of you contributes. Someone who has acted as guarantor for a partner’s debt is also legally responsible for paying it.
Property and gifts
Property given by one partner to the other usually belongs to the receiver. If one partner gives the other housekeeping money, Citizens Advice says any property bought with savings from it will probably belong to the person who gave the money, which differs from marriage, where such savings would usually be divided equally in a court dispute.
Your home if the relationship ends
Citizens Advice’s page on separating says that married couples and civil partners have “home rights”, meaning they can stay in the home even if they do not own it or are not named on the tenancy. If you are not married or in a civil partnership, you will not have home rights, and your position depends on whether you are a tenant or a homeowner. It warns that a person who ends a tenancy or moves out may be treated by the council as intentionally homeless. It says that mediation may help a couple reach agreement, and that a court can make an “occupation order” deciding who stays in the home if one person urgently needs the other to move out.
If a partner’s behaviour makes you anxious or threatened, Citizens Advice says not to try to agree what to do about the home without speaking to someone first. It gives Refuge or Women’s Aid on 0808 200 0247 for women affected by domestic abuse, and Men’s Advice Line on 0808 801 0327 (10am to 5pm, Monday to Friday) for men. It also says that people who cannot safely stay at home because of domestic abuse can apply to their council for homeless help and that the “intentionally homeless” rule does not apply to someone who had to leave because of abuse. The coercive control guide and the economic abuse guide explain the warning signs.
Wills and inheritance
Citizens Advice says that if one unmarried partner dies without leaving a will, the surviving partner will not automatically inherit anything unless the couple owned property jointly, and that unmarried couples need wills to ensure the other partner inherits. If a will does not leave enough for the survivor to live on, the survivor may be able to go to court to claim from the estate. Inheritance from an unmarried partner is not exempt from inheritance tax in the way it is for married couples.
Reform is proposed, not law
On 5 June 2026 the Ministry of Justice announced a consultation on strengthening the financial rights of cohabiting couples. According to the announcement, the proposals under consideration include giving individuals access to a share of a house sale, giving bereaved unmarried partners automatic inheritance rights if a partner dies without a will, and looking at whether courts should give greater weight to the impact of domestic abuse, including controlling or coercive behaviour or economic abuse, when assessing finances. These are proposals for consultation and have not become law, so the position described above remains the current guidance from Citizens Advice unless and until the law changes.
The bottom line
Living together does not give an unmarried couple the automatic protections of marriage. Separate names on accounts, debts and tenancies matter, a will is needed to protect a partner, and there are no home rights. Anyone moving in with a partner they met online can reduce the risk by agreeing in writing how bills, deposits and property will be shared, taking advice on the choice of joint or separate accounts, and keeping in mind that reforms have been proposed but not yet enacted.