BEFORE YOU MOVE IN - COHABITATION EXPLAINED

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This video answers the question: What legal obligations, if any, arise under California law if you decide to move in and live with your girlfriend or boyfriend?
We need to start by making a distinction between a couple simply living together, which many people call “cohabitation”, versus a formal “Domestic Partnership”. In 2005, the “Domestic Partner Rights and Responsibilities Act” went into effect in California. Under this Act, two people can become legal domestic partners by filing a “Declaration of Domestic Partnership” with the California Secretary of State. Domestic Partners who are registered with the Secretary of State, have almost all of the same legal rights, protections and benefits, as well as all of the same responsibilities, that California law grants to, and imposes upon, married couples.
If a couple live together for a period of years and have children together, at some point do they have a common-law marriage?
Living together in California will not create a common-law marriage. It does not matter how long you live together or how many children you may or may not have. Simply living together does not create a marriage. Common-law marriages have been abolished in most states in the United States. However, there are still a handful of states that do recognize common-law marriages. Those states include Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Rhode Island, Texas, Utah, and the District of Colombia.
Under California law, property rights and rights to alimony are based on the existence of a valid marriage or a valid registered domestic partnership. Merely living together does not confer rights to property or support on either party.
If you live with a boyfriend or a girlfriend and the relationship ends, you will not be ordered to pay alimony by a Family Law court, but you may get sued in a civil action for property and or for support payments based on a claim for breach of an expressed or an implied contract.
It all started with an old-time movie actor named Lee Marvin. Back in the seventies, Lee Marvin lived with a woman named Michelle Triola. They were never married. They just lived together for a period of years. After the couple split up, Michelle sued Lee in civil court, claiming that, in exchange for the domestic duties she performed, Lee had promised her an ownership interest in his earnings and property, as well as a promise to support her for the rest of her life. Michelle made a civil claim against Lee for breach of this alleged oral promise or contract. In the end, Michelle lost her case because the court concluded she had failed to prove the existence of an oral contract between Lee and herself. Although Michelle lost her civil case, the Marvin case opened the door for future “Marvin actions”.
An implied contract is not based on expressed words, but is instead manifested by the conduct of the parties. The court can imply the existence of a contract regarding the ownership of property or regarding support based purely on the conduct of the parties. So, even if you don’t get married, but merely live with your boyfriend, and even if you never expressly agree to share the assets you purchase and never agree to pay him palimony, when the relationship ends, you could still get sued for half of your assets and for support for my ex-boyfriend’s lifetime if he decides to make up a story about an oral agreement to share assets and pay support or claims that there was an implied agreement.
In order to protect yourself, before you move in together, you both should sign a written Cohabitation Agreement. A Cohabitation Agreement is a written document that clearly spells out each party’s rights and obligations during the period of time the parties will be living together. A Cohabitation Agreement may state that each party’s earnings during the relationship will remain that party’s separate property and any assets acquired with those earnings will remain separate. In the alternative, a Cohabitation Agreement may state that, while the parties live together, both of their earnings, as well as any assets that are acquired, will be deemed to be joint income and joint assets. A Cohabitation Agreement can also address the issue of support. There are all kinds of provisions you can include in a Cohabitation Agreement.
In order to obtain a Cohabitation agreement, you can consult with an experienced Family Law attorney. There are Cohabitation Agreement templates for California available on the internet. Like Pre-Marital Agreement templates found on the internet, some are good, some are O.K., and some are garbage.