Unmarried cohabitation in a European perspective

... Despite this diversity, there is a common thread in the regulation of unmarried cohabitation throughout Western jurisdictions. Western jurisdictions generally target 'marriage-like' cohabitation: a cohabitation between two people in a stable, committed and affectionate relationship (Boele-Woelki et al. 2019;Estin 2001;Miles 2017). The following analysis of the legal regulation of unmarried cohabitation therefore also concentrates on such 'marriage-like' cohabitation. ...

... Consequently, in the event of a dispute, the court must decide whether the situation before it qualifies as 'cohabitation' within the scope of the default regime. An example of this is the Swedish cohabitation law, which applies to two unmarried persons in a relationship who live together in a stable way and maintain a common household It is evident that default regimes offer the best protection for the vulnerable party (Goossens 2021;Miles 2017). Other legal approaches to unmarried cohabitation require partners to take formal action, such as entering into a registered partnership (if available) or concluding a contract. ...