Do You Need a Prenuptial or Cohabitation Agreement?

If you live in the UK and are in the process of getting a divorce yet you and your spouse have to reside under the same roof, then there are certain steps you should take in order to make this arrangement amicable.

Step 1 - Agree on your day-to-day living arrangements.

This is important so that neither of you do anything which, aggravates the situation. For example, decide where each partner is going to sleep, work and relax. The aim is not necessarily to stay out of each other's way, but to avoid the time where conflict is most likely.

Step 2 - Agree on who is responsible for different household chores and bills.

It may be the case that you have now separated your finances, therefore you must have an agreement in place to establish where to money for bills is going to come from. Everyday chores should be divided and both partners should resist relying on one another for food or care.

Step 3 - Quite important is the care of any children involved.

You should avoid a conflicted atmosphere at all costs when you have children living at home. Where children are concerned it is normally best to avoid separating everything in your day-to-day life. For example, although it may be necessary to sleep in separate rooms, separate dinners and relaxing arrangements may be disruptive to the children. However, the most important thing is to not reflect your feelings about your partner or the stress of the divorce on to their lives.

Step 4 - Arrangements for selling the matrimonial home.

Where necessary, try to establish a plan for selling your property. This will mean using agents and working with legal representatives together in order to get the best possible price for the property. If the property is being viewed, then ensure that either your or your partner is available to tidy the internal accommodation and show people around.

Step 5 - Agree on what is acceptable and unacceptable social behaviour from both of you.

An example of this would be where your partner works shifts and you should try to have respect for their sleeping arrangements. It may be a good idea to agree on what happens if one or the other finds another partner, for example that it may not be acceptable to bring that person back to the shared home.

If you both cannot agree of some of or even all of the above issues, then mediation is a good process to begin with in order to try to reach an amicable starting point. Mediation is a discussion process that uses an independent person between both parties to help reach agreement. Both partners will have an opportunity to voice exactly what they want and what their personal concerns with the arrangements are. The mediator will use this information to help the parties reach amicable grounds, which, are then enforced by mutual agreement. The presence of an independent and unprejudiced mind can prove invaluable for seeing through murky conflicts between resentful parties.

It may also be worth considering either a cohabitation agreement if you are planning on living together without marrying or alternatively a UK prenuptial agreement if you're thinking of getting married - both cohabitation and prenuptial agreements set out how a couple will divide their property in the event that their relationship fails.