When an unmarried couple lives together for a significant period of time, they may have formed a “meretricious relationship,” which, in Washington, gives each of them rights to property, similar to rights enjoyed by married couples. This article provides an overview of cohabitation relationships.

What is a “meretricious” relationship?

The term “meretricious” has historically been used to label the cohabitation of unmarried couples. However, this term has a really negative connotation; meretricious is actually an adjective of the French noun meretrix, which means prostitute.

Given this name, it’s not surprising that the law historically disfavored cohabitation and provided unmarried couples very few of the same benefits enjoyed by married couples. For example, for many years, courts were not keen to recognize property rights of unmarried couples. Over the years however, cohabiting couples have made great advances.

Because the term has been long accepted as legalese in the state of Washington, it (unfortunately) continues to be used. For the purposes of this article, we’ll use it sparingly and instead favor the term “cohabitation,” which refers to all unmarried, cohabiting couples in a relationship similar to marriage.

Contrary to its literal meaning, a "meretricious" relationship is a stable, marital-like relationship where both parties cohabit with knowledge that a lawful marriage between them does not exist.

How does a court determine a meretricious relationship?

There is no precise formula to determine if a relationship is a meretricious one. Courts will generally review the following, non-exclusive list of relevant factors:

• continuous cohabitation
• the length of the relationship
• the purpose of the relationship
• whether the couple pooled resources and services for joint projects, and
• the intent of the parties.

Once a court determines the existence of a meretricious relationship, it can make decisions about the other issues raised by the parties.

What sorts of issues arise between unmarried, cohabiting couples?

The rights and duties of unmarried cohabitants are now similar to those of married couples – they have a right to contract with each other, a duty to support their children, they have property ownership rights, and responsibilities for debts and liabilities.

However, there are some major differences. There is no mutual duty of maintenance, meaning there is no legal duty to provide financial support to one another during or after the relationship, and they do not receive the same tax benefits as married couples.

What duties and rights do unmarried cohabitants have once their relationship ends?

When a cohabitation relationship ends, the couple will usually face the same issues that arise in the divorce. The most common include the following:

• dividing assets or property
• paying debts, and
• determining child custody and child support.

These issues may be negotiated between the couple, but if they can’t agree, a court can decide.

Let’s look more carefully at how some of these issues are treated in Washington.

Property

When unmarried couples break up, they usually want to know what will become of the property they purchased and invested in together during the relationship.

For example, many unmarried couples purchase a home, move into the home, and make mortgage and property tax payments together for years. Often, a home will be the biggest asset a couple has and may even represent a sole source of retirement. When couples break up, they may argue over what to do with their home and whether they have equal interests in the property; each person will want a share of whatever was accumulated while the couple was together.

When dividing property acquired in a cohabitation relationship, Washington courts must take a three-step approach:

• determine whether a “meretricous” relationship existed (see above)
• evaluate the interest each party has in the property acquired during the relationship, and
• make a just and equitable (fair) distribution of the property.

Alimony or Maintenance

As stated above, there is no right to receive, or duty to pay, alimony in a cohabitational relationship, in other words, an unmarried partner cannot be ordered to pay support to his or her ex-partner. But, unmarried couples can enter into written contracts that provide for support or maintenance- a court may uphold such an agreement if it’s shown to be valid.

Child Custody and Support

Whether parents are married to one another or not, they have a legal duty to care for their children; this includes the duty to provide financial support and to provide the custody and care for their children.

Courts will decide these child-related issues based on the child support guidelines in the state of Washington and considering the best interests of the children.

For more information on child support, see Child Support in Washington, by Teresa Wall-Cyb.

For more information on child custody in Washington, see Child Custody in Washington: The Best Interests of the Child, by Desiree Howard.

Do these laws apply to same-sex cohabitation relationships?

On February 13, 2012, Governor Christine Gregoire signed a same-sex marriage equality bill. This bill – “Referendum 74” - was approved by Washington voters on November 6, 2012 in a 52-48 percent win. The law, which allows same-sex couples to wed, took effect on December 6, 2012. Same-sex marriages have been taking place in Washington since December 9, 2012.

Now that same-sex marriage is legal in Washington, cohabitation laws should apply to all couples that meet the legal requirements for meretricious relationships - not just opposite-sex couples. However, no case dealing precisely with the issue of same-sex cohabitants’ property rights has been heard and decided since December of 2012. We’ll have to wait to see how this new area of the law unfolds.

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