Should our cohabitation agreement include rules for the relationship such as who does the housework?
You may want to talk over issues like this while you are preparing the agreement. For example, if one partner works and the other looks after the home, you might feel that this should be reflected in the way you agree financial issues should the relationship break down. For example, you might agree that the 'house-partner' would be entitled to a share of the assets, or some form of maintenance, in much the same way as happens in a divorce.It is sensible to state in your cohabitation agreement how expenses will be shared. However, it is not generally a good idea to include rules on behaviour in the agreement. In part, this is because it would be very difficult to specify exactly what is being agreed in legally enforceable wording: for example what housework must be done, to what standard, and so on. Attempting to include such rules is likely to undermine the clarity and enforceability of the agreement. Instead, you would normally expect to deal with such issues between yourselves: after all, if you have to call in a lawyer every time one of you leaves the washing up, your relationship is in trouble!
