Living together without a status
Cohabitation has been defined by French law since 1999, and creates almost no rights between the parties. That freedom has precise consequences, generally discovered at the worst possible moment.
A definition without effects
Article 515-8 of the French Civil Code, introduced by the Act of 15 November 1999, defines cohabitation as a de facto union characterised by a shared life presenting a character of stability and continuity. The definition therefore exists, contrary to what one often hears.
What it does not create is obligations. Cohabitants owe each other neither support nor assistance, are not answerable for each other's debts, and do not inherit from each other. The status records a situation, it does not organise it.
Housing
This is the most concrete point. Two spouses are co-holders of the lease as of right, even if only one signed it. Two civil-partnership (PACS) partners can be so on joint request, since the ALUR Act of 2014. Two cohabitants never are.
Whoever did not sign is therefore not a tenant, whatever the length of the shared life and whatever their actual payment of the rent. Only one protection is recognised: on the death of the tenant or their abandonment of the home, the lease is transferred to them if they had been living there for at least a year.
Money and unequal contributions
Difficulties almost always arise in the same way. One finances more of an asset acquired in the other's name, or works unpaid in the other's business, or pays the running costs while the other repays a loan that builds up their own estate.
At separation, restitution is by no means automatic. The courts have indirect remedies, the de facto partnership and unjust enrichment, but both require demanding proof and lead to an uncertain outcome. They sometimes repair; they organise nothing in advance.
Succession
Without a will, the surviving cohabitant inherits nothing, including after thirty years of shared life. With a will, they are treated as a third party and taxed at the highest rate of the inheritance tax scale.
The comparison is useful: a spouse is exempt and inherits in any event; a PACS partner is exempt but only if made a legatee. The cohabitant accumulates both disadvantages.
What can be done without changing status
Three documents cover the essentials, and none commits anyone to staying. A written record of the origin of the funds used for a joint purchase. The statement, in the deed of acquisition, of shares matching the actual contributions rather than a half-and-half split adopted for convenience. And a will, if one wishes the other to receive anything.
These precautions are easier to take at the beginning than at the moment of separating, which is precisely why they are almost never taken.
Key points
Cohabitation has been defined by law since 1999 but creates almost no rights between the parties.
A cohabitant who did not sign the lease is not a tenant, except by transfer after a death or an abandonment of the home if they had been living there for at least a year.
Without a will, the surviving cohabitant inherits nothing; with a will, they are taxed at the rate applicable between unrelated persons.
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