Financial relief for cohabitants: how the Law Commission's scheme would work

Stuart Bridge, Law Commissioner. In its report Cohabitation: The Financial Consequences of Relationship Breakdown (Law Com No 307, 2007), the Law Commission recommended the introduction of a new legislative scheme of remedies for certain cohabiting couples in the event of their separation (financial relief on separation). The scheme would apply to cohabitants who had had children together or who had lived together for a minimum duration (of no less than 2, and no more than 5, years) save where they had made a valid opt-out agreement. In the October issue of Family Law ([2007] Fam Law 911) it was explained why the Commission rejected a number of other possible reform options. In this article Stuart Bridge explains how the recommended scheme of financial relief would operate. For the full article see November [2007] Fam Law.

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