If you and your partner have been in a relationship without being married, you can separate without applying for separation and divorce. You will need to decide on your financial matters yourselves and be responsible for dividing your assets, belongings, and property when the relationship ends. This means there are many things to consider when ending the relationship, and it can be an emotional and challenging process involving both legal and financial considerations.
If you and your partner have lived together without being married, it is important to be aware that you are not subject to the same legal protection as married couples when you part ways. This means that it is not automatically regulated how your assets should be distributed between you.
As unmarried cohabitants, you have a more limited legal protection because you are considered as individual persons. If you separate, the starting point is that you each retain the assets and possessions that you individually own, and that you are individually responsible for any debts you have incurred before and during your relationship.
If you have children and choose to end your relationsship, there will be several issues that you need to address. This may include the children’s residence, establishing visitation arrangements, or any changes regarding parental authority.
If you have ensured to keep your finances separate and have purchased, paid for, and registered ownership of the assets and properties you each own, it will usually not lead to major challenges when dividing your assets in the event of breaking up. However, if you part ways after many years together, where there may be mixed finances and shared property such as a home or car, it can become difficult to distinguish between what belongs to each of you when everything suddenly isn’t “ours” anymore.
For example, if you have a shared home or car, it will typically be crucial to determine who is registered as the owner. The registered owner is generally entitled to keep the property or vehicle without having to share it with the other person. This can be challenging if only one person is registered as the owner, especially if it is due to a coincidence or for insurance purposes. In such cases, it may feel unfair if both have contributed to paying off the debt, ongoing expenses, or to renovations and improvements.
If you have joint registered ownership of, for example, a house or a car, you need to come to an agreement on whether it should be sold or taken over by one of you and at what value. If you have a co-ownership agreement that has already regulated the process, or if you can agree on what should happen, it is straightforward and something you can generally handle yourselves.
If you cannot agree on who should take over the possessions you own together, you can seek assistance from the probate court if it involves more than one matter.
In very special cases, it is also possible to obtain financial compensation through a lawsuit if one party has significantly contributed to the other’s wealth and assets.