Nonmarital Cohabitation

Unmarried couples living together do not have the same community property rights as married couples. They can enforce contracts between them, but any agreement based solely on sexual services is not enforceable, although they may still recover value through other legal theories like quantum meruit or constructive trust.

Alice and Bob have been living together for three years and have a written agreement that they will share expenses equally. When they split up, Alice tries to enforce the agreement to recover her half of the rent. The court upholds the contract since it is not based on sexual services, allowing Alice to recover her share.

Cohabitation without marriage means no community property, but contracts can still hold water.

Exams may present scenarios where students mistakenly assume cohabiting partners have community property rights, leading to incorrect conclusions about asset division.

Questions often involve fact patterns where cohabiting partners have disputes over property or contracts, testing the understanding of enforceability and the limits of rights in nonmarital relationships.