ABSTRACT
Chapter 5 explores the emerging law of cohabitation. Today, nations vary dramatically in their legal treatment of cohabitants, and academic commentators are also deeply divided on how this rapidly growing family form should be legally regulated. Using the principles derived in Chapter 3 and a wealth of social-science evidence, the chapter analyzes the ways in which cohabitation is like marriage and how it is different. It then details the areas of Family Law in which cohabitants should be treated like married couples and those where they should not.
