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Partners
If your partner has asked you to share a home with him or her without getting married, it’s important to remember that this decision could have practical consequences that will outlive the Valentine’s Day roses and chocolates.
That’s according to Chantel Cronje, legal advisor at Legal & Tax, who warns that living with a partner without getting married carries a range of legal and financial risks that need to be managed.
“It’s not terribly romantic to think about the consequences of your partner dying or the relationship failing as you discuss your future together over champagne on Valentine’s Day,” Cronje says.
“Yet you must consider these dangers before you move in together. The best way to protect yourself is to sign a cohabitation agreement that will protect your rights if the relationship ends.”
Cronje says that living with your long term partner does not grant you the legal rights and protections of marriage, however long the cohabitation living arrangement lasts. There is no such thing in South Africa as a common law marriage, even if you and your partner have lived together for decades, Cronje emphasises.
Marriage offers the following benefits that you cannot access if you and your partner are living together:
• Duty of support: Married spouses are obliged to support each other, depending on your respective means and needs.
• Maintenance after death: When a spouse dies, the other one can claim maintenance from his or her deceased estate.
• Inheritance: If you are married, you or your spouse will automatically be a beneficiary in the estate of the deceased in the event one of you dies without a will. If you are living together and the deceased did not make a will, the estate will go to the late spouse's direct blood family.
• Termination of the relationship: When spouses divorce, each is entitled half their joint estate, unless the marriage is out of community of property and without the accrual system. In a cohabitation relationship, dividing assets and proving who owns what can be a difficult and painful process.
A fair agreement
If you want to live together with a life partner, but do not plan to get married, you should draw up a cohabitation agreement that is fair to both parties. Such an agreement helps ensure that both parties understand what their rights and assets will be if the relationship ends, Cronje says. It is wise to ask for a lawyer’s help in drafting the agreement.
This contract should outline:
• How you will conduct your living arrangements.
• The rights and responsibilities of you and your partner – financial and otherwise.
• How any property you own will be divided in the event the relationship breaks down.
Such a contract will set out clearly what property (cash, furniture, the house and other assets) each of you will leave the relationship with if you split up. You should structure this agreement according to your circumstances and adapt it if your conditions change.
For example, if one partner will put a career on hold to raise children, make sure that the contract provides for him or her to leave the relationship with a fair share of the assets as well as a stipend for living expenses.
You and your partner should also ensure that your wills are up to date and that you have provided for each other in event one of you dies. There are many cases of people being left with nothing after blood relatives swoop in to claim all their partner’s assets – even if they were accumulated through the work of both partners in the relationship, Cronje warns.
Moving out
Cronje says a cohabitation relationship can be ended by either partner at any time. No court order or divorce procedure is followed – making it critically important that there is a cast-iron contract in place to protect both partners.
For more information or legal advice on this topic, contact Legal & Tax on 0860 LTS LTS (587 587) or visit http://www.legalandtax.co.za. Follow us @LegalandTax on Twitter or join us on Facebook to keep up with Legal & Tax news and views.
Follow Women24 on Twitter and like us on Facebook.
That’s according to Chantel Cronje, legal advisor at Legal & Tax, who warns that living with a partner without getting married carries a range of legal and financial risks that need to be managed.
“It’s not terribly romantic to think about the consequences of your partner dying or the relationship failing as you discuss your future together over champagne on Valentine’s Day,” Cronje says.
“Yet you must consider these dangers before you move in together. The best way to protect yourself is to sign a cohabitation agreement that will protect your rights if the relationship ends.”
Cronje says that living with your long term partner does not grant you the legal rights and protections of marriage, however long the cohabitation living arrangement lasts. There is no such thing in South Africa as a common law marriage, even if you and your partner have lived together for decades, Cronje emphasises.
Marriage offers the following benefits that you cannot access if you and your partner are living together:
• Duty of support: Married spouses are obliged to support each other, depending on your respective means and needs.
• Maintenance after death: When a spouse dies, the other one can claim maintenance from his or her deceased estate.
• Inheritance: If you are married, you or your spouse will automatically be a beneficiary in the estate of the deceased in the event one of you dies without a will. If you are living together and the deceased did not make a will, the estate will go to the late spouse's direct blood family.
• Termination of the relationship: When spouses divorce, each is entitled half their joint estate, unless the marriage is out of community of property and without the accrual system. In a cohabitation relationship, dividing assets and proving who owns what can be a difficult and painful process.
A fair agreement
If you want to live together with a life partner, but do not plan to get married, you should draw up a cohabitation agreement that is fair to both parties. Such an agreement helps ensure that both parties understand what their rights and assets will be if the relationship ends, Cronje says. It is wise to ask for a lawyer’s help in drafting the agreement.
This contract should outline:
• How you will conduct your living arrangements.
• The rights and responsibilities of you and your partner – financial and otherwise.
• How any property you own will be divided in the event the relationship breaks down.
Such a contract will set out clearly what property (cash, furniture, the house and other assets) each of you will leave the relationship with if you split up. You should structure this agreement according to your circumstances and adapt it if your conditions change.
For example, if one partner will put a career on hold to raise children, make sure that the contract provides for him or her to leave the relationship with a fair share of the assets as well as a stipend for living expenses.
You and your partner should also ensure that your wills are up to date and that you have provided for each other in event one of you dies. There are many cases of people being left with nothing after blood relatives swoop in to claim all their partner’s assets – even if they were accumulated through the work of both partners in the relationship, Cronje warns.
Moving out
Cronje says a cohabitation relationship can be ended by either partner at any time. No court order or divorce procedure is followed – making it critically important that there is a cast-iron contract in place to protect both partners.
For more information or legal advice on this topic, contact Legal & Tax on 0860 LTS LTS (587 587) or visit http://www.legalandtax.co.za. Follow us @LegalandTax on Twitter or join us on Facebook to keep up with Legal & Tax news and views.
Follow Women24 on Twitter and like us on Facebook.
