We're buying a home together as common-law partners — do we need a cohabitation agreement?

A cohabitation agreement is not legally required to buy a home together, but it is strongly advisable. Without one, the legal ownership of the home is determined by how the title is registered — joint tenancy (equal shares with right of survivorship) or tenants in common (specified percentage shares) — and by Ontario's general property law. That framework does not protect either partner in the same way the Family Law Act protects married spouses.

With a cohabitation agreement you can document the specific proportions of the purchase price each partner contributes, how ongoing costs like mortgage, property tax, and maintenance will be shared, what happens to the home if one partner wants to sell and the other does not, and what each partner receives if the relationship ends and the home must be sold or bought out.

Without this clarity, disputes about the home are among the most common and contentious outcomes of common-law separations. Courts can resolve them, but trust-based claims are expensive, uncertain, and take time. A cohabitation agreement — combined with ensuring the title reflects the intended ownership shares — is a far more efficient way to establish everyone's rights from the start.