Legal Information Database-international lawyers-top lawyers-find lawyers

Living Together Outside of Marriage


Can two people live together without being married?

Of course. The Census Bureau reports that such arrangements are quite common. Some
zoning laws do prohibit more than three unrelated persons from living together in one house or
apartment (Living Together Outside of Marriage), but two unrelated people generally can live together anywhere they want. A few
states still have laws on the books prohibiting "fornication"--sexual relations between a man and
woman who are not married--but such laws are virtually never enforced. Some states also have
laws against "sodomy" which, among other things, prohibit sexual relations between people of
the same sex. Those laws are rarely enforced if the conduct is private, consensual, and between
adults (although in 1986, the United States Supreme Court in a divided decision did uphold a
Georgia law criminalizing private sexual relations between two men.)

May two people who are living together enter into agreements about sharing
expenses or acquiring property?

Yes. The law allows people to enter into many types of contracts. If two people want to
agree about who will pay what and how they will share in property that they might acquire, such
an agreement can be valid and enforceable by courts in most states. From a legal standpoint, it
is best to make the agreements specific and in writing. An oral agreement might be enforceable,
but it is more difficult to prove. Each party to the agreement should give some benefit to the
other party, such as agreeing to pay a certain portion of expenses. If an agreement looks as
though it is only creating a gift from one party to the other with the recipient giving nothing in
return, the agreement might not be enforceable.


Will a court enforce an agreement by which one unmarried partner agrees to keep
house and the other promises financial support?


Probably not. To begin with, such agreements rarely are in writing, so they are hard to prove
in court. Second, to the extent that one person is promising financial support to the other, that
promise usually is contingent on a continuation of the relationship. If, for example, one partner
says, "I'll take care of you," the statement may be too vague to be enforceable; if it means
anything, it probably means something along the lines of "I'll support you financially as long as
we are living together." So, if the couple breaks up, a court probably would not find an
enforceable promise for continued support.
There is a potential third problem: if a court thinks an agreement amounts to providing
financial support in exchange for sexual relations, the court will not enforce it. Such an
agreement is uncomfortably close to a contract for prostitution.
Courts are more inclined to enforce agreements for tangible items, such as payments of
expenses or rights to property. A promise of housekeeping services or emotional support for a
partner may be sincere, but it is much more amorphous than a promise to pay half the phone bill
or share the proceeds of a condominium sale.