Questions about cohabitation agreements
Questions about cohabitation agreements
What can a cohabitation agreement protect?
It can regulate costs, ownership, investments and the consequences of separation. Unmarried partners do not have the same statutory rights as spouses. Nevertheless, claims arising from ownership, loans or a simple partnership may exist without an agreement.
What form does a cohabitation agreement require?
Generally no particular form is required, although writing is advisable. Real estate and inheritance provisions may require special forms. An ordinarily signed document does not replace a formally valid inheritance agreement.
What applies on separation without an agreement?
The individual legal relationships must be examined. A simple partnership may exist, but not every cohabitation relationship is automatically dissolved as a partnership. Ownership, contributions and shared intentions are decisive.
Which provisions cannot be agreed freely?
Mandatory law and excessive commitments impose limits. Children’s rights and authorities’ powers cannot simply be contracted out of. Inheritance and pension benefits require their own permissible mechanisms.
Complex questions from practice
How can unequal personal contributions to a joint property purchase by cohabiting partners be protected?
Ownership shares, loans, investments and responsibility for the mortgage should be transparently regulated. Land register ownership and internal financing must be considered separately. A separation mechanism also needs a workable valuation process.
Document personal funds, the mortgage, ongoing payments and later investments separately. An internal equalisation provision may differ from ownership shares in the land register and should be clearly worded. On separation, valuation, takeover and payment deadlines are as important as the original financing.
How can an unmarried partner be effectively protected in the event of death?
A cohabitation agreement alone creates no statutory inheritance entitlement. A will or inheritance agreement, compulsory shares and permissible pension beneficiary arrangements must be coordinated. Cantonal tax consequences may be substantial.
Estate planning should consider existing wills, pension arrangements and family circumstances together. Examine other people’s claims and how the partner can actually obtain sufficient resources. Tax treatment may vary between cantons and must be clarified alongside inheritance planning.
How can a caregiving partner who reduces working hours be protected financially and in pension arrangements?
Maintenance arrangements, pension gaps and building ownership can be regulated together. Child maintenance must be distinguished. Duration, triggers and affordability should be precisely established.
Record the agreed reduction in work and how resulting disadvantages are to be compensated. Provisions may concern ongoing support, building pension entitlements or a later equalisation payment. Changes in care and separation should also be considered. Payments between partners must not be confused with children’s entitlements.
How are joint debts treated internally and towards creditors when cohabiting partners separate?
An internal allocation does not automatically release a person from liability to a bank or landlord. The creditor’s consent may be required. Regulate indemnification and recourse and establish a realistic release plan.
List who is obliged to which creditors. An internal cost and recourse arrangement can then be developed. If one person is to leave a loan or tenancy agreement entirely, the counterparty’s consent must be clarified separately. The partners’ private agreement alone does not alter the counterparty’s rights.