If you live together but you do not marry or enter into a civil partnership, there are currently only a very limited number of options open to you upon separation.

There is no such thing as a “common law” husband or wife. This is a common misconception. The length of time you live together does not contribute to any rights you may have to make financial claims concerning your relationship. Therefore even if you have been living together for a long time, you will not have any additional rights to those whose relationship has broken down after only a short while.

If you separate, there are no rights to claim financial support or maintenance from your partner. This right exists only within divorce or civil partnership dissolution proceedings.

If you have children together your partner may be liable to pay some child maintenance to you if the children primarily reside with you and your partner’s financial circumstances would justify it. You would be unlikely to receive any child maintenance if your partner receives State benefits.

If there is a dispute about the amount of child maintenance the Court can make an order for you only in very limited circumstances. Usually a dispute over child maintenance would be dealt with by the Child Support Agency (CSA) which is soon to become the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission (CMEC).

If one party lives abroad or earns over a certain amount, the Court may then be able to order maintenance.

If you live in a property owned jointly by both of you and you cannot agree whether it should be sold or how to divide the proceeds, the Court can make an order about that under the Trust of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996 (commonly known as TOLATA). You can seek a declaration as to the proportion of the property that belongs to you as well as an order that the property should be sold and the proceeds distributed.

If one of you does not own the property but you think you may be entitled to a share, a TOLATA application may be appropriate as well in order to determine the extent to which you have acquired an interest. You might have acquired an interest because your partner has agreed that you should have a share or you have made financial contributions of a capital nature (i.e. towards the capital on the mortgage or paying towards home improvements etc). Merely sharing the bills with your partner is unlikely to mean that you are entitled to a share of the property unless there has also been an agreement or clear understanding that you are going to have a share.

Such an application falls within the complicated area of the law of Trusts and there would be a detailed consideration of whether a certain form of Trust such as a Constructive Trust or Resulting Trust has been created by any form of agreement or understanding that you and your partner have come to.

If there are children, and upon separation you need accommodation for yourself and the children, it is possible to apply on their behalf for an order under Schedule 1 of the Children Act 1989. This could be for a property to be transferred to you to use as a home for the children until they are grown up or for a lump sum of money to purchase a property for the same purpose.

What you would need to apply for would depend very much on the financial circumstances of the other party and each case will be different. Usually property or money to buy the property would have to be returned to your partner once the children were no longer living in the house i.e. because they had grown up.

In addition to seeking funds to purchase a property, or to have a property transferred for yours and the children’s use, it is also potentially possible to apply for lump sums to cover things like the cost of buying a car, furniture or appliances as long as you can justify that this is designed to meet the needs of the children.

If you are separating and you need any advice on your position, please contact Michelle Uppal on 020 7426 0400 or email Michelle on mu@milesandpartners.com.