Legal Rights of Unmarried People Living Together

Cohabitation generally means two unmarried people in a relationship living together.  It may be a casual, temporary relationship, an experiment in living together preceding marriage, or a more permanent alternative to marriage.  

Whatever the degree of emotional commitment between the cohabitants, the United States Census Bureau has reported a dramatic increase in the number of cohabitants during the past three decades.  The number of cohabitants tripled from 1970 to 1980, jumping from 523,000 to 1,560,000.  From 1980 to 1990, the number went from 1,589,000 to 2,856,000.   The total number of unmarried cohabitants was placed at  5,475,768, including same sex couples.  This was a 72% increase over the last decade.  The increase in unmarried couples in Maryland was 46.9%.

Although not entitled under the law to the protections that legally married couples have concerning shared property and rights of support, unmarried cohabitants do have legal protections as individuals and can take measures to safeguard their rights.  Furthermore, there is a slowly developing trend in the United States to lessen the gap between the rights and remedies granted to married couples and those given to unmarried cohabitants.  

These documents catalog the laws that provide aid to unmarried cohabitants; highlights and discusses potential problems; suggests ways in which unmarried cohabitants can minimize problems stemming from their living situation; and indicates trends in the law that may hurt or help cohabitants.  The emphasis will be on Maryland laws and court decisions, but where appropriate, federal and other state laws and national trends will be discussed.

• Introduction
• Benefits, Insurance, Inheritance and Taxes
• Children of Unmarried Cohabitants
• Discrimination
• Domestic Violence
• Handling Disputes During a Break Up
• Legal Status Of Unmarried Cohabitants
• Medical Decisions
• Reproductive Decisions
• Right to Support and Property
• Sample Health Care Decision Making Forms (Maryland)
• Tort Claims
• Conclusion

Source: This section is drawn from the booklet entitled "Legal Rights of Unmarried Cohabitants in Maryland" produced by and available from The Women's Law Center.  Updated 7/10/01.

Source: Maryland State Law Library (MSLL)                                                                                               Last Legal Update 02/06/08 (PLL/M.A.J.)

About this website. The Maryland State Law Library, a court-related agency of the Maryland Judiciary, sponsors this site. The website was developed (1999-2007) as part of an access to justice initiative by the Maryland Legal Assistance Network (MLAN) in collaboration with a number of legal services providers serving low and moderate income Marylanders.  In the absence of file-specific attribution or copyright, the Maryland State Law Library may hold the copyright to parts of this website. You are free to copy the information for your own use or for other non-commercial purposes with the following language “Source: Maryland's People’s Law Library – www.peoples-law.org. © Maryland State Law Library, 2007.”

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