ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a reader to understand the legal regulation of property disputes between unmarried couples, and explores potential reforms of the law on unmarried couples. It used to be assumed that couples who wanted to set up a family would get married. Although marriage is still a popular option many people prefer to find informal family arrangements. The chapter explains the concept of constructive trust and helps the reader to understand the meaning of proprietary estoppel. It discusses practical everyday examples to make it understandable for anyone, whatever their background. Important cases are identified and explained and on-the-spot questions help one to recognise potential issues or debates within the law. There are a host of statutes that give the same rights to unmarried couples as to married couples. However, typically this is restricted to couples who are living together in the same way as a married couple.
