Cohabiting couples may have legal safeguards by end-of-year

A Cohabitation Bill which was tabled in parliament yesterday for its first reading, will offer legal safeguards for couples who live together, Civil Liberties Minister Helena Dalli announced.

It is expected that the legislative proposal becomes law before the end of the year, giving individuals who cohabit the opportunity to legally recognise their relationship, awarding them both rights and obligations.

It will be up to the two individuals, aided by a notary, to draft their contract listing the rights and obligations up to a point where it could be at par with a marriage contract.

The Bill proposes a three-tier system, whereby the cohabitation status could either be de-facto – awarding basic rights – a registered cohabitation – by notarial contract – and a “unilateral” option covering those cases where a partner refuses to create an agreement. The latter approach will only be available for five years from when the law is enacted.

#Cohabitation Bill is yet another groundbreaking social reform. Many had promised it, we are delivering it -JM #Malta

— Joseph Muscat (@JosephMuscat_JM) October 11, 2016

Under the law, the couple will be guaranteed basic rights, such as next of kin rights in the event of hospitalization, the right not to testify against their partner in court, as well as the right to remain the couple’s common home in the event that one of the partners dies.

The partners will also be allowed to remain in the common home for a “reasonable” amount of time in the event of a break-up.

An important proposal that emerged during the public consultation was principle of unjust enrichment. The legal concept refers to situations in which one person is ‘enriched’ at the expense of another in circumstances which the law treats as unjust: a simple example would be a partner who stays home allowing the other partner to work; if separated, the stay-at-home partner might end up empty-handed. The proposal will thus offer a degree of protects.

Couples who opt to draft up a contract could potentially cover issues such as maintenance, residence and the custody and care of children. In this case, the contract can only be changed in the court of law, so as to protect “vulnerable parties” which may, for example, be coerced into changing the contract at the last minute. Depending on what the legal agreement says, they would be entitled to a surviving partner’s pension.

Separated individuals who enter into a cohabiting relationship will not lose any maintenance received from the previous relationship.

Someone who is cohabiting will not be allowed to marry another person as this would result in bigamy, the minister said.