Benefit of a Cohabitation Agreement in DC
There are many benefits of a cohabitation agreement in DC. A cohabitation agreement is often used for unmarried couples that are deciding to cohabit, which is a legal term for living together and having sexual relations. In DC, cohabitation agreements are common because DC recognizes common law marriages, which means that if you are living together and acting as a married couple in many ways, it may result in your relationship being considered a common law marriage, even if that is not your intention. Talk to a professional DC family lawyer for more information.
Importance of Cohabitation Agreement
If a person does not enter into a common law marriage, perhaps unknowingly, then if the relationship ends, both partners will have certain legal rights and obligations vis-a-vis one another that they might not have intended to commit to when moving in together to begin with.
A cohabitation agreement can be extremely important in that it can provide explicitly that no common law marriage is intended, or it can determine the division of marital assets and any kind of spousal support payment, custody arrangement, or child support payment that would need to take a place when the common law marriage ended and the parties were no longer living together.
Benefits of Cohabitation Agreement
Cohabitation agreements can provide many benefits in DC, the most important of which is avoiding a finding that a common law marriage has occurred if the parties do not intend to enter into a marriage. It can also explicitly define what separate property is, protecting the assets from division when the relationship ends or protecting one partner from being held to be liable for the debts of another.
Cohabitation agreements may also cover certain important financial decisions, such as determining how money will be managed during the relationship, who manages the household bills, what kinds of joint account will be held by which party, etcetera. It can provide both partners with the security of knowing what will happen if the relationship ends, such as who will continue living in the home that they share or what kind of items they would receive if one partner died.
Cohabitation Agreement Upon Marriage
If a couple decides to get married after a cohabitation agreement, the situation will depend on the terms that were discussed and included in the cohabitation agreement, although cohabitation agreements typically provide that a couple does not have any intention of marrying as they are often entered into to avoid a determination that a common law marriage has taken place.
However, they may include provisions or terms that will eventually serve to make the cohabitation agreement into a prenuptial agreement if the party does determine that they want to get married, or it may become void at the date that a couple gets married – in which case if they intend to continue to protect their rights, they either should enter into a premarital or a post-marital agreement. There are many benefits to a cohabitation agreement in DC. See how by contacting a skilled lawyer today.