To begin with
A declaration at the municipality provides a legal basis. Check whether that basis is sufficient for your partner, your home and your assets.
"Clarity gives the other person the chance to choose how they want to relate to you."
Your questions, step by step
Building a life together starts with trust. Clear agreements help to protect each other even when your situation changes.
Why do I go to the notaire for this?
Cohabitation does not automatically determine who is the owner, who receives an extra payment back or who inherits later. The civil-law notary helps to keep those arrangements clear.
An agreement between legal cohabitants is notarised.
How do we protect each other when we cohabit?
Discuss whether you are de facto or legally cohabiting and who owns which goods.
Record contributions to the home, loan and household expenses.
Discuss separately what is needed in case of a separation or death, such as a testament.
How does this proceed and how long does it take?
If you want to enter into legal cohabitation, you must make a declaration at the municipality. The agreement and any will are separate steps.
Arrange agreements about a purchase or additional contributions before payment.
Which documents should I provide to the notaire?
Prepare what you already have. You do not need to wait until your folder is complete to make an appointment.
Is a document missing or do you not know where to find it? Check the help for each document. We will discuss what the office can obtain for you and what you still need to provide yourself.
Where can I find this?
Provide the complete version with date, attachments and later amendments. Do you not have this document or do you not know if it exists? Select “Help needed” and discuss it with the office.
Where can I find this?
Search in your deed folder, Izimi or Mijn akten. Cannot find the deed? Provide the address, estimated date and possibly the previous notarial office; we will see how to request a copy.
Where can I find this?
Provide the complete version with date, attachments and later amendments. Do you not have this document or do you not know if it exists? Select “Help needed” and discuss it with the office.
Where can I find this?
Request the document from your bank or download it from your own online banking environment. State the date and file reference. Provide statements, never passwords or access codes.
Where can I find this?
Provide the full text and any amendments. Look in your deed folder or Mijn akten. Not everything is digitally available; if necessary, indicate which office drafted the deed.
These check marks only remain on the opened page and are not sent to the office.
Open the checklist: ready, need help or not applicableWhat does the notaire do and investigate?
- Do you live together factually or legally?
- Who owns the property and which payments are demonstrable?
- Which agreements are valid and enforceable?
- Besides the contract, is a will or other protection necessary?
We agree on which searches the office will conduct and which information you, your bank or another expert will provide.
What should I pay attention to before I sign?
Check ownership shares, repayment of own funds, monthly contributions and the arrangement when one partner leaves. A cohabitation contract does not replace a will.
Is a passage still unclear? Feel free to ask for an explanation with an example from your own situation. Only sign when you understand what you are agreeing to.
What else must I arrange afterwards?
Keep proof of payments and adjust agreements upon a purchase, birth, marriage or breakup. Check together who receives the payout of your insurances.
Which practical tips can help me?
A transfer for renovations does not automatically make you a co-owner. Establish in advance what that payment entails.
What do these words mean?
- Factual cohabitation
- Living together without a declaration of legal cohabitation.
- Legal cohabitation
- Living together after a declaration at the municipality, with legal rights and duties.
- Own contributions
- Money or goods that one partner brings in separately.
Where can I find more explanation or help?
You do not have to phrase your question in legal terms. Tell what concerns you, what you want to arrange and if an important date is approaching.
We will look together at the next step. We agree in advance on how the office will assist you and what costs are involved.
Ask your question to the officeMake an AppointmentGeneral explanation for your preparation. The rules and documents that apply to you are determined based on your file.
On this page
What happens if you arrange nothing extra?
YOUR STARTING POINT
If your partner dies, you generally obtain the right to use the joint family home and household effects, insofar as they belong to the inheritance. That right is called usufruct. You do not automatically inherit all your partner’s possessions.
More points to consider for your own situation
The family home and household effects
Usufruct means that the surviving partner can use the property and enjoy the income from it. It does not make that person full owner. Other heirs can be owners without having the use or income themselves. That is called bare ownership.
For a rented family home there is a specific arrangement concerning tenancy rights and household effects. There are special legal exceptions, including when the surviving legally cohabiting partner is a descendant of the deceased.
Savings and other assets
A second home, a personal investment portfolio or a savings account does not automatically fall under the limited statutory inheritance rights of the cohabiting partner.
Therefore map out which funds are needed beyond the use of the home. Ownership and tax benefits answer different questions: first it must be clear what someone receives legally.
The protection is not inviolable
As a legally cohabiting partner, you have no guaranteed minimum share of the inheritance. Your partner can limit or remove your statutory inheritance rights by will. Legal cohabitation may also be ended unilaterally according to the statutory procedure.
An arrangement from years ago may therefore have a different effect than you expect. Have declarations, wills and purchase deeds read together.
If you separate: termination and division are two steps
Legal cohabitation may be ended jointly or unilaterally according to the statutory procedure. Simply moving out is not sufficient. After termination, it must be examined what happens to your home, belongings, costs and debts.
Legal cohabitation does not create a general community property regime as in statutory marriage. You generally keep your own assets; shared assets and proven claims must be settled. Certain household debts do create joint obligations.
A will or a right of accretion must be read separately. Do not assume that every document mentioning your partner automatically ceases to operate. Also consult the bank when one partner intends to take over a joint loan.
What does usufruct mean for daily life?
Statutory inheritance law generally grants the surviving partner usufruct of the family home and household effects that belong to the estate. You may use these goods and enjoy the income. Bare ownership may, for example, belong to the children. You therefore do not automatically receive the full sale price if the property is sold.
A hypothetical example: your partner was the sole owner of the family home and has two children. Without a different arrangement, you generally receive the usufruct and the children the bare ownership. You can continue to live there, but a sale of full ownership normally requires joint cooperation. Savings do not automatically fall under this limited inheritance right.
This protection can be removed by will: a legally cohabiting partner has no reserved portion of the inheritance. Therefore review existing documents and available means for daily expenses, in addition to the protection of the home.
What can you arrange yourself?
YOUR CHOICES
Which choice helps you achieve what you want? That also depends on your existing agreements and the rights of your partner, children or others.
I want to leave more than the statutory minimum
Does this suit your question?
You want to give your partner savings, other possessions or more rights to the home.
What changes?
A will can additionally benefit your partner, within the available room.
What requires attention?
Children retain their protected inheritance shares. A will does not equate legal cohabitation with marriage.
Read about additional protection →We want clear agreements on ownership and costs
Does this suit your question?
You want agreements about contributions, purchases, renovations or what happens at the end of the relationship.
What changes?
A cohabitation agreement can make your patrimonial arrangements concrete.
What requires attention?
An agreement about costs does not in itself create inheritance rights. The title of the document does not specify what exactly is arranged.
Have your agreements reviewed →We want to compare with marriage
Does this suit your question?
You wonder whether the protection of a spouse better suits your life.
What changes?
Marriage gives broader rights and obligations, including in principle a protected inheritance law.
What requires attention?
The correct matrimonial property regime, existing debts and children from a previous relationship deserve a separate discussion.
Discover the starting point for married couples →A HYPOTHETICAL EXAMPLE
A couple in legal cohabitation may think that the surviving partner receives both the home and all the savings. Without additional arrangements, that is not correct. The limited statutory inheritance law protects in principle the right to use the family home and household effects but does not automatically transfer the other assets to the partner.
What do I ask the notaire?
You do not need to memorise these terms. Bring the questions that suit you. Feel free to ask to see the answer with your own home, your money and the people you want to protect.
Click on a question for an initial explanation or practical tip. You do not need to have an answer to everything yet.
What does my partner really receive, besides the use of the family home?
Also have savings and other assets reviewed.
Can a will alter the existing protection?
Ask what your current wills provide for and what you may wish to add.
What settlement follows if our cohabitation ends?
Discuss ownership, contributions, loans and arrangements that continue to have effect.
Have we arranged enough for income and future care?
Housing security alone does not address how all daily expenses are paid.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need permission to sell our family home?
The family home enjoys protection during legal cohabitation. Even if only one partner is the owner, that person generally cannot sell or mortgage the property without the other's consent. This protection during cohabitation is distinct from inheritance law upon death.
Is my partner fully protected by a will?
That depends on the contents, the available scope and the other involved rights. A will is in principle revocable. For those seeking durable mutual protection, alternatives and their consequences must also be discussed.
Bring this to your consultation
- The declaration of legal cohabitation.
- Your property deed or rental contract and overview of assets.
- Existing wills, extrajudicial protection mandates and agreements.
- Your specific wishes for home, income and decision-making freedom.
Frequently Asked Questions
FROM READING TO PREPARATION
Already a first answer.
Must I first find all the documents?
You can already ask your question with what you have. Note which agreements you remember and what has changed since. Using the checklist on this page, you can see what to gather and what still needs to be discussed with the office.
How do I prepare a conversation with my relatives?
First explain what you want to achieve or avoid. Give everyone space to express expectations and practical limits. Note what you agree on and which questions remain open, so that the conversation also takes into account who bears the consequences.
What if I am unsure between different solutions?
Write down for each option what you hope to achieve and what you do not yet understand. Bring existing documents. The consultation is meant to compare possibilities and consequences with your own situation before making a choice.
EASY PREPARATION
Your checklist: cohabitation agreements
Which documents do you prepare, where do you find them and when can the office assist? Indicate what you have and where you need support.
Useful websites on this topic
RELIABLE CONTINUED READING
FROM FIRST QUESTION TO NEXT STEP
You do not have to figure it out alone.
First your situation
Explain what is happening, who is involved and what you want to avoid.
Weighing possibilities
We discuss your questions, the available documents and the consequences of possible choices.
Your Next Step
We record what you want to have prepared and what follow-up is appropriate.
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