We've lived together for years: do I have the same rights as a wife?
No, and the gap is wide. Registered cohabitation gives rights of assistance and some protection over the home, but not automatic inheritance, not a survivor's pension, not maintenance when the relationship ends. Years spent together do not change the legal position. What can be built is a cohabitation agreement, which fills much of that gap.
What is the point of registering cohabitation with the council?
It makes the relationship exist in law. Registration brings hospital visiting rights, the ability to decide on your partner's healthcare if they cannot, succession to the tenancy on death, and certain rights over the family home. Without it, for the State you are two people living at the same address.
What can go into a cohabitation agreement?
How household and living costs are shared, who owns what, how jointly bought assets are dealt with, which property regime you choose and what happens at the end. You cannot include terms about children, nor obligations lasting beyond the relationship such as maintenance: those stay outside.
If we split up, am I entitled to maintenance?
No, there is no maintenance between cohabitants. A court can, however, award basic support to someone in genuine need, for a period proportionate to how long you lived together. It is a subsistence measure, not maintenance, and must be applied for with evidence of your financial position.
The flat is in his name: do I have to leave when we split up?
Yes, if there are no children: ownership decides. Where there are children the criterion becomes their interests, and the home can be assigned to the parent they mainly live with, even if that parent doesn't own it. If you contributed to buying or renovating it you can claim back what you paid, but you need proof of the payments.
If my partner dies, what am I entitled to?
By law you inherit nothing: you are not an heir. You have the right to stay in an owned home for a period linked to the years you lived together, and to take over the tenancy if it was rented. Everything else must be arranged by will, within the disposable share, or through other arrangements considered in advance.
Do our children have fewer rights because we aren't married?
None at all. For years the law has drawn no distinction between children born inside and outside marriage: the same inheritance rights, the same rules on custody and maintenance. What is required is that both parents have acknowledged them. Where an acknowledgement is missing, it can be obtained through the courts.
My partner is violent: what can I ask for?
A protection order, which a court can make between cohabitants too. It requires them to leave the family home, bars them from places you frequent and can include a financial contribution. It is applied for urgently and granted quickly. If there are reported incidents or medical records, bring them to the first consultation.