The court could order visitation in these circumstances if it was in the best interests of the child. If you are currently living with someone in an intimate relationship to whom you are not married, you may want to consider a cohabitation agreement. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court recently upheld such an agreement between two people who had lived together for 25 years. The couple signed an agreement after 22 years of cohabitation. Although the agreement wasn t fair, the Court ruled that the parties were free to contract with respect to property, financial and other matters relevant to their relationship.
Cohabitation agreements are a good idea whose time has come and passed for some people.
If you are not going to contract with each other in the form of a marriage, then you better consider doing it under a normal contract. The contract can and should define what each party owns, what the expense distribution will be between the parties, what happens to their property when the couple breaks up. This can all be defined during a time when there is no turmoil in the relationship and cool heads prevail. Some things cannot be predetermined by such an agreement. The agreement terminates with the death of either party to it.