When a man and a woman live together their relationship is known in legal terms as 'concubinage' or 'cohabitation', and it has also been referred to as "living together", or "domestic partnership".

The definition given to the term "co-habitation" includes gay and lesbian couples living together. Co-habitation can be defined as a stable, monogamous relationship where a couple which does not wish to, or are not allowed to get married, live together like husband and wife. If parties intend to cohabit, their relationship may be regulated in terms of either a universal partnership agreement or a domestic life partnership agreement.

South African statistics demonstrate a rising trend in cohabitation. Somewhat conservative statistics indicate that a very large number of people live in domestic partnerships in South Africa. The census of 1996 found that 1, 268,964 people described themselves as living together with a partner while the 2001 Census estimated that nearly 2.4 million individuals were living in domestic partnerships, almost doubling the figures of 1996.

In South African law, there is no such thing as a Common Law Marriage and therefore the duration that a couple spends living together does not translate into a default marriage.

The consequence is that at the dissolution of the relationship the assets or any obligations are determined or distributed on a basis of the arrangement that parties used during the subsistence of their relationship.  Many people believe that simply living together with another person for a continuous period of time establishes legal rights and duties between them. Some people believe that the duration of the relationship creates legal protection while others think that having children together entitles the cohabitation relationship to legal protection. Many people do not know that there is actually no legal recognition of domestic partnerships. The lack of awareness of legal rights may be as a result of the still prevalent belief in the existence of common-law marriage, despite the fact that this concept has been abolished worldwide.

The only way to be protected in our law is to enter into a cohabitation agreement. Such an agreement clarifies the expectations of the partners and it also serve as an early warning of future problems. A cohabitation agreement will determine what would happen to property and assets of the couple if they should decide to separate. The agreement is, however, not enforceable in so far as third parties are concerned. For Cohabitation agreement click here.

Sources:

• edivorce
• Meumannwhite
• legalcity

Page Created: 29 November 2011