Cohabitation and Non-Marital Agreements in Texas
Plenty of couples build a life together without marrying, buying homes, sharing accounts, raising children, and mixing finances, yet the law gives unmarried partners almost none of the property protections that marriage provides. A cohabitation agreement fills that gap. It is a contract that lets partners decide for themselves how their property and finances work, and what happens if they part. This page explains what these agreements do, how they interact with Texas common-law marriage, and how they connect to a prenup if the couple later weds.
Living together creates no automatic property rights
Unmarried partners do not get community-property protections. Without an agreement, who owns what can come down to whose name is on the title, which often does not match what the couple intended.
What a Cohabitation Agreement Is
A cohabitation agreement is a contract between unmarried partners who live together. It addresses how they will own and manage property, share expenses and debts, handle a jointly owned home, and divide assets they acquire together if the relationship ends. Because the community-property system applies only to married couples, an unmarried partner generally has no automatic claim to property held in the other’s name. A cohabitation agreement is the main way to replace that uncertainty with clear, agreed terms tailored to how the couple actually lives.
Cohabitation and Common-Law Marriage
A common misconception is that living together long enough creates a marriage. Texas does recognize informal, or common-law, marriage, but only when specific elements are met: the couple agreed to be married, then lived together in Texas as spouses, and represented to others that they were married. Cohabitation alone does not satisfy this, and many couples who live together are not common-law married. Because whether a common-law marriage exists is a fact question that can be hotly disputed later, a clear written agreement, which can also state the parties’ intent about marital status, adds valuable certainty.
What It Can and Cannot Cover
A cohabitation agreement can address a wide range of financial questions: ownership of property purchased together, contributions to a shared residence, how household expenses and debts are split, treatment of separately owned property, and how jointly acquired assets are divided on separation. What it cannot do is manufacture the marital rights the law reserves to marriage, and like any agreement, it cannot bind a court on child support or custody if the couple has children, those are always decided by the child’s best interest. Within its proper lane, though, it provides real protection that the default rules do not.
If You Later Marry
Relationships evolve, and a cohabitation agreement can be designed with that in mind. If the partners later decide to marry, they often replace or supplement the cohabitation agreement with a premarital agreement that takes effect upon the marriage. The cohabitation agreement governs the unmarried period; the prenup governs the marriage. Coordinating the two, so there is no gap and no conflict between them, makes the transition smooth and keeps the couple’s intentions intact as their legal status changes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Living together without marrying?
A cohabitation agreement gives unmarried partners the clarity the law does not. Let’s protect what each of you brings and build, on your own terms.
This page provides general information about Texas law and is not legal advice for your specific situation. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.