Can my partner claim a stake?

By THIS IS MONEY
Updated:

 

I RECENTLY bought a house and am looking to move my boyfriend in with me. Is it true that if a partner has been living in your property for six months they are entitled to half of it? How do I stand legally? Should I have some kind of agreement drawn u p to protect my investment? M, Stowmarket.

David Allison, solicitor with Family Law Consortium says: You do not acquire any interest in a property by living together with someone else who owns it, unless you get married. The only way your boyfriend could gain an entitlement to your property is if he makes a direct financial contribution to the purchase, mortgage or through improvements to it.

The only alternative is an old law called 'Estoppel', which is where someone tells you that a property is yours and always will be your home, in which case they can be held to it. Cohabitation gives a cohabiting partner no right to a property they live in but do not own. These rights only apply to married couples.

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