In essence, what a prenup is to getting married, a cohabitation or living together agreement is to living together. A living together agreement is as it sounds: a simple agreement that protects assets that were acquired before you began to live together. It also details how you will share any assets and debts acquired whilst living together, and often includes how you will share the costs of cohabiting.

Living together agreements can cover everything from physical property to financial assets, from child support to who gets to keep the cat. It isn’t very romantic, but it can save a lot of heartache, not to mention a lot of money paying for a costly court case if it all goes wrong and you’re totally unprepared.

What does a standard agreement say?

A standard living together agreement tends to specify the following:

* that pre-living together assets such as the home they share remain the