Breaking Up Can Be Hard Emotionally But What About Legally?

October 7, 2008 by Curt Siters

A long term relationship is much like a marriage. There is a commitment and community property. Unless you take great pains to ensure that all expenses (outside of the common ones) and property are kept separate there could be problems should the relationship fail. If you haven’t done that then you will need to work out who gets what. This can be complicated if the relationship is on shaky ground or down right bad.

Even if the separation is on good terms you may find yourself fighting over certain items or what is fair. That is why there is a legal document called a "prenuptial agreement." This is used to ensure that certain items remain with the original owner should a breakup occur. It also only applies to marriages.

When it comes down to it what are your legal rights and responsibilities in this kind of situation? What about your soon to be ex? Most long term relationships are done with a verbal type of agreement that doesn’t take into account what will happen if the relationship fails. While verbal agreements do have a certain amount of legal binding how much do they really have?

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