ABA Family Legal Guide

Family Law

Marriage

Living Together Outside of Marriage

Will a court enforce an agreement by which one unmarried partner agrees to keep house and the other promises financial support?

Probably not, but laws on this issue vary from state to state. To begin with, such agreements are rarely in writing, so they are hard to prove in court. Second, to the extent that one person is promising financial support to the other, that promise is usually contingent on a continuation of the relationship. If, for example, one partner tells the other, "I'll take care of you," the statement may be too vague to be enforceable; if it means anything, it probably means something along the lines of "I'll support you financially as long as we are living together." So, if the couple breaks up, a court would probably not find an enforceable promise for continued support.

There is a potential third problem: If a court thinks an agreement amounts to providing financial support in exchange for sexual relations, the court will not enforce it. Such an agreement is considered to be close to a contract for prostitution.

Courts are more inclined to enforce agreements that provide for tangible items, such as payment of expenses or rights to property. A promise of housekeeping services or emotional support for a partner may be sincere, but it is much more amorphous than a promise to pay half the phone bill or share the proceeds of a condominium sale.