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It is a fact of life that many couples now prefer not to marry, but to live together and have a family outside of marriage.
In legal terms, marriage brings to a relationship greater rights and obligations for both parties, which do not exist for co-habitees.
The principle problems for co-habitees lie with inheritance, if one party dies with ownership of assets, or if the parties split up with dividing assets or with contact between a parent and the children and with maintenance of the children. It is the case that there is no legal obligation to pay maintenance by a partner to his or her co-habitee (except as regards the children) and consequently a partner can walk away with impunity.
In relation to things brought and sold, it is to a large degree a question of fact whether an item belongs to one or the other party or is joint and determining factors will be the intention of the parties and to a certain extent who paid for the item. It is not always the case that the person who paid for an item owns it outright.
Gifts under Jersey Law are enforceable (unlike in the U.K.) and therefore if one party gives to the other an item (e.g. jewellery) without any constraints, then the item belongs to the other.
A difficult area is family heirlooms which one or the other party want back if the relationship ends. It is possible to recover such items if it was clear that only the use of the item was being permitted. Unfortunately, people are often vague (especially when love is in the air) and sometimes do not consider the consequences of their actions and one party can believe that an item is being given, when the other party really intends, but does not make it clear, that he or she “may†want it back later if things go wrong.
A Co-Habitation Agreement (an agreement between the parties setting down what each own and their rights and obligations if they separate) is therefore useful in such cases, especially if the parties acquire a valuable asset such as a house.
Unlike in marriage (where rights of inheritance are obtained by both parties on the celebration of the marriage) a co-habiting couple cannot inherit from one another unless there is a Will and should therefore consider making a Will in favour of the other if they have valuable assets in only one of their names and want the other to benefit on his or her death.
In relation to children born outside marriage, the mother has Parental Responsibility (see Children's Issues), but the natural father does not automatically have the same rights and can only acquire them be agreement with the mother or an Order of the Royal Court.
In a similar fashion, an illegitimate child can inherit from its mother and she can inherit from her child, but the child is not, in Law, considered the heir of its natural father, who must make a Will in its favour, if the child is to benefit.
Irrespective of whether a child is legitimate or illegitimate, the Court considers that its natural parents have a duty to support the child and can make Orders as to maintenance and contact between child and parents.
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