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Cohabiting tenants: What are the rules?
Verified 02 June 2023 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)
When a couple lives in a cohabitation (or common law union), the rules are different depending on whether only one cohabiting partner signs the lease, or whether the 2 cohabiting partners sign the lease (simultaneously or not).
What applies to you ?
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The rules presented here relate to the lease of a dwelling in an empty rented dwelling.
The two concubines sign the lease
Each cohabitation is holder of the lease, and legal lessee the housing they live together.
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The lease contains a solidarity clause
Cohabiting partners must pay rent and expenses in a manner that joint and several.
This means that the landlord (or real estate agency) can go to any of them to get the full payment.
The lease does not contain this clause
Each cohabiting partner must pay 50% of the rent and expenses.
Cohabiting partners should give notice (leave) to the owner (or real estate agency).
To do this, they can either send a single letter that they sign every 2, or each draft a letter that they send at the same time.
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In case of violence
When one of the concubines is violent, the other concubine can give his leave to the owner with a period of notice of 1 month.
Abuse must be committed against the partner who leaves the home or the child who usually lives with him.
The spouse who leaves the home must send his or her leave by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt. It must indicate the reason for departure (violence) and include one of the following documents:
- A copy of the protection order issued by the family court judge
- A copy of the criminal conviction of the abusive partner for acts of violence against the other partner or against a child who habitually resides with the latter. This sentence must be less than 6 months old.
FYI
- The spouse who leaves the dwelling, and his or her suretyshall not be liable for any unpaid payment made as from the day following the date on which the letter of leave is submitted to the owner
- If the abusive partner does not pay the rent from the day after the letter is presented to the landlord, the landlord has a legitimate and serious reason for to sell or take over the dwelling.
Other case
A cohabiting partner who wishes to terminate the lease must give notice (leave) to the owner (or real estate agency).
The lease continues with the remaining partner.
When the lease contains a solidarity clause, the spouse who gives notice shall remain liable for the rent and the charges due:
- for six months following the date of the end of the notice period
- or upon the end of the notice period, if a new tenant arrives before that date
Where the lease does not contain this clause, the spouse who gives notice shall remain liable for the rent and the charges due:
- until the end of the notice period
- or until a new tenant arrives, if the new tenant arrives before the end of the notice period
When one of the cohabiting partners dies, the lease continues with the remaining partner in the unit.
Abandonment occurs when the following conditions are met:
- Where the departure of one of the cohabiting partners is made inevitable and definitive by reason of his state of health, and this departure is binding on him and the other partner. For example, this is the case when one of the cohabiting partners settles in a retirement home.
- Either when the departure of one of the cohabiting partners is abrupt and unpredictable and has been programmed without the other partner's knowledge. For example, it is the case when one of the partners leaves, while the other is at work, taking personal belongings, furniture...
When one of the cohabiting partners abandons the dwelling, the lease continues with the remaining partner in the dwelling.
The owner (or real estate agency) must send each of his letters to the 2 concubines, for them to be valid.
In fact, the exchange of letters between the owner (or the real estate agency) and only 1 of the concubines is not enforceable to the other partner.
Only 1 partner signs the lease
Only the spouse who signed the lease is the holder of the lease (or legal lessee housing).
The other spouse has no right or title to the housing, even though they decided together to share the rent payment.
Only the partner who has signed the lease is liable for the payment of rent and charges to the landlord (or real estate agency). As a result, the landlord (or real estate agency) can never claim payment from the other partner, unless the other partner has taken action surety.
FYI
To claim payment from the surety, the owner (or real estate agency) must respect certain rules.
The partner who signed the lease must give notice (leave) to the owner (or real estate agency).
The other partner must leave the dwelling no later than the departure of the partner who signed the lease, unless the owner (or real estate agency) agrees to sign a new lease with the other partner.
When the partner who signed the lease dies, the other partner can obtain the transfer of the lease under certain conditions, which depend on the rented accommodation:
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Private accommodation
The remaining spouse can obtain the lease transfer if all conditions the following are completed:
- The cohabitation was well-known (the relationship was continuous, stable and known). Cohabitation can be proven by any means (attestation of relatives, invoices...)
- At the time of death, he had been living for at least 1 year with the partner who signed the lease
If all these conditions are not met, the partner can only stay in the dwelling by signing a new lease with the owner (or with the real estate agency).
Social housing
The remaining spouse can obtain the transfer of lease. He can prove that the cohabitation was well known (the relationship was continuous, stable and known) by any means (attestation of relatives, invoices...).
FYI
If other relatives also request the transfer of the lease, the protection litigation judge the court on which the dwelling depends shall make its decision taking into account the interests of all.
Housing Law of 1948
The remaining spouse can only stay in the dwelling if he or she fills up all of the following conditions :
- He had been living with the partner who signed the lease for over a year
- He is disabled and receives either a severely disabled war pensioner, an invalidity pension corresponding to an incapacity of at least 80%, or an allowance paid to any person with at least 80% permanent incapacity.
He can prove the known cohabitation (the relationship was continuous, stable and known) by any means (attestation of relatives, invoices...).
FYI
If other relatives also request the transfer of the lease, the protection litigation judge, of the court on which the dwelling depends, shall make its decision taking into account the interests of each person.
Abandonment of domicile occurs when the following conditions are met:
- Where the departure of the spouse who holds the lease is made inevitable and definitive by reason of his or her state of health, and this departure is binding on him or herself and on the other spouse.
For example, this is the case when the cohabiting partner who holds the lease settles in a retirement home. - Or when the departure of the spouse holding the lease is abrupt and unpredictable and has been scheduled without the other spouse's knowledge.
For example, it's the case when the spouse who holds the lease leaves while the other spouse is at work, taking personal belongings, furniture—
Where the cohabiting partner in possession of the lease abandons the dwelling, the other cohabiting partner may obtain the transfer of the lease under certain conditions, which depend on the rented dwelling:
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Private accommodation
The remaining spouse can obtain the lease transfer if all of the following conditions are met:
- The cohabitation was well-known (the relationship was continuous, stable and known). He can prove cohabitation by any means (attestation of relatives, invoices...)
- He had been living with the cohabiting partner of the lease for at least 1 year, at the time of the abandonment
If the cohabitation lasted less than a year, he can only stay in the house by signing a new lease with the owner (or with the real estate agency).
Social housing
The remaining spouse can obtain the transfer of lease.
He can prove that the cohabitation was well known (the relationship was continuous, stable and known) by any means (attestation of relatives, invoices...).
FYI
If other relatives also request the transfer of the lease, the protection litigation judge the court on which the dwelling depends shall make its decision taking into account the interests of all.
Housing Law of 1948
The remaining spouse cannot stay in the dwelling that he fills all of the following conditions :
- He had been living with the partner who signed the lease for over a year
- He is disabled and receives either a severely disabled war pensioner, an invalidity pension corresponding to an incapacity of at least 80%, or an allowance paid to any person with at least 80% permanent incapacity.
He can prove the known cohabitation (the relationship was continuous, stable and known) by any means (attestation of relatives, invoices...).
FYI
If other relatives also request the transfer of the lease, the protection litigation judge the court on which the dwelling depends shall make its decision taking into account the interests of all.
Who can help me?
Find who can answer your questions in your region
Telephone administrative information - Allo Public Service
For more information on this topic, you can contact Allô Service Public.
Attention: the service does not have access to users' personal files and cannot therefore provide information on their status.
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The informants who answer you belong to the ministry in charge of housing and city planning.
- Departmental Agency for Housing Information (Adil)
Abandonment, death (general case)
Abandonment, death (social housing)
Abandonment, death (so-called "Law of 48")
Cohabitation and solidarity clause (VI)