Also known as: cohabitation · nonmarital cohabitation · cohabit · cohabited · cohabiting
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
Living together by two unmarried persons in a shared residence. This arrangement supplies an element for common law marriage when combined with consent and public holding out. It also supports putative spouse status when one party believes in good faith that a valid marriage exists.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Clifford Cox and Corinne Cho lived together for three years in a single home. They used a joint bank account and introduced themselves to neighbors as husband and wife. A court found that their cohabitation satisfied the second element needed to recognize their common law marriage.
Craig Caldwell cohabited with Caitlin Crowley for four years after a ceremony he believed was legally binding. When the marriage proved invalid, the court awarded him maintenance as a putative spouse because his belief remained genuine throughout the cohabitation.
Connor Clark and Christopher Collins shared an apartment and agreed only to live together indefinitely. The court refused to treat their arrangement as a marriage because the parties never consented to a permanent and exclusive relationship.
Canyon Construction employee Wade resided with his partner and their child for five years before the partner's death. The court held that this cohabitation created a liberty interest requiring notice and a hearing before the state could remove the child.
Alan lived with his partner and son above a store for five years while serving as primary caregiver. After the partner's death the city removed the child without a hearing under an ordinance targeting unmarried fathers. The court ruled that the cohabitation created a protected relationship triggering due process safeguards.
Evan cohabited with his partner and daughter for seven years as the child's daily caregiver. Upon the partner's death the agency placed the child in foster care based solely on database status. The court required an individualized hearing because the cohabitation had formed a constitutionally protected custodial relationship.
No. Cohabitation must combine with an exchange of consents and public holding out as spouses. An agreement merely to live together is insufficient.
Supporting sources
A person who cohabits in good faith belief of a valid marriage acquires rights of a legal spouse, including maintenance, until learning the marriage is invalid.
Supporting sources
Long-term cohabitation with a child as primary caregiver creates a liberty interest protected by due process, requiring notice and a hearing before removal.
Supporting sources
…relatives, principally the spouse and unmarried and dependent children. Excluded from the definition of "family," and hence from cohabitation, are various persons related by blood or adoption to the head of the household. The obvious purpose of the city is the traditional one of preserving certain areas as family residential…