Most of them do not memorialize their relationship as is done in a marriage or in a pre-nuptial agreement. If the relationship goes sour, the courts are not going to apply the fairness standard for property distribution as they do in a divorce or under a pre-nuptial agreement. The SJC said last year in a case that agreement between cohabitants must conform to ordinary rules of contracts and are not entitled to considerations of fairness. The agreement will be looked at within its four corners. In other words, if the agreement is unclear or lacking in some way what the signers wanted in it, the court won t guess or form an opinion on what is fair.
Some general rules apply to such an agreement.
You should have an attorney who is knowledgeable draft the agreement. There should be full disclosure of the extent of ones assets and liabilities in the agreement. The agreement should state precisely what will happen to assets upon dissolution of the relationship. There should also be the ability to make changes by agreement of the parties. Such agreements end upon marriage of the parties.