A cohabitation agreement is not a sign that a relationship is expected to fail, it helps both people understand their responsibilities and reduces the risk of disputes later.
When a marriage ends, there is a legal framework to guide the division of assets, debt and financial responsibilities. For unmarried couples, the situation is often far less straightforward.
Lawyer Shaun Muskat says that the current law doesn't recognise a common-law marriage, although it will recognise a situation in which the parties have a cohabitation agreement – alongside traditional marriage with or without an antenuptial contract.
Cohabitation is increasingly a preferred option for couples, with the National Research Foundation citing a 2025 study that showed that cohabitation, with the decline in the rate of marriages, has increased, which it says signals "a significant shift in family formation outside the legal marriage system".
Statistics South Africa's latest Census, for 2022, indicates that the number of people cohabitating or "living together" is, at 3.7 million, a third of those who are "legally married".
