Cohabitee relationships
Published
This page deals with the Cohabitees Act (sambolagen), the term cohabitee, what applies during a cohabitee relationship, and when such a relationship ends.
Content on this page:
- Difference between cohabitees and spouses
- When does the Cohabitees Act apply?
- During a cohabitee relationship
- When a cohabitee relationship ends
- Division of property between cohabitees
- Children of cohabitees
The Cohabitees Act aims to protect the weaker party when a cohabitee relationship ends. The Cohabitees Act contains rules on:
- dividing the joint dwelling and household goods of cohabitees
- a cohabitee’s right to take over a dwelling not included in the division of property
- limitations on the right to make decisions concerning the joint home.
There are also rules in the Tenancy Act, Sweden’s tax acts, and the social security rules that equate cohabitees with spouses, especially when cohabitees have children together.
Difference between cohabitees and spouses
There are major and important differences between cohabitees and spouses, in particular regarding the relationship between the parties. For example, cohabitees have no obligation to pay maintenance for each other, even after a very long-term relationship.
The right to the division of property between cohabitees only includes what is called joint property (samboegendom). The joint dwelling and joint household goods of the cohabitees that have been acquired for joint use can constitute joint property. Other property, for example bank deposits, cars and summer cottages are not included in the division of property. On separation, they are retained by the cohabitee who owns the property.
Two cohabitees are also not entitled to inherit each other unless they have written wills setting out who will inherit from whom.
Cohabitees do not inherit from each other
unless they make a will specifying this.
When does the Cohabitees Act apply?
According to the Cohabitees Act, cohabitees are two people who:
- live permanently together,
- live together as a couple, and
- have a joint household, which means that they share domestic chores and expenses.
In this context, a couple is described as a relationship characterised by the kind of close personal relationship that normally exists between married people.
It does not matter if the cohabitees are of the opposite sex or of the same sex.
Two adult siblings living together are not covered by the Cohabitees Act. The same applies if either of the parties are married to someone else.
During a cohabitee relationship
The main rule during the cohabitee relationship is that each cohabitee takes care of their own property and is responsible for their own debts. However, there are certain restrictions on a cohabitee’s rights to make decisions about their property. These rules are very similar to those that apply in a marriage. They mean that a cohabitee may not sell, give away or mortgage their joint dwelling or joint household goods without the prior consent of the other cohabitee.
If the cohabitees live in a property owned by one of the cohabitees, the cohabitees can notify the National Land Survey (Lantmäteriet) that the property is a joint dwelling for both of them. The cohabitee who owns the property then cannot sell or mortgage it without the other cohabitee’s knowledge.
When a cohabitee relationship ends
A cohabitee relationship ends if:
- the cohabitees (one or both) get married;
- they move apart;
- one of them dies;
- one of them applies to the district court for the latter to appoint an estate administrator (bodelningsförättare) to divide the property or for the right to continue living in the cohabitees’ joint dwelling until the division of property has been concluded; or
- one of the cohabitees takes legal action to be allowed to take over a joint dwelling not included in the division of property.
Division of property between cohabitees
When a cohabitee relationship ends, one of the cohabitees can request a division of property. This request must be made not later than one year after the relationship ended. If neither cohabitee requests a division of property, each of them retains their own property.
If the cohabitee relationship ends with the death of one of the cohabitees or if a cohabitee dies within one year of when the cohabitee relationship ended, the request for a division of property must be made no later than when the estate inventory (bouppteckning) is drawn up. In the event of the death of one of the cohabitees, only the surviving cohabitee may request a division of property. The heirs of the deceased cohabitee are not entitled to request a division of property.
Through a written agreement, cohabitees can agree that a division of property should not take place. They may also agree that certain property will not be included in a division of property. This kind of agreement must be signed by both of them. It is not registered and does not need to be witnessed. However, in such an agreement, it is not possible to remove the right of one cohabitee to be allowed to take over the other cohabitee’s dwelling in exchange for payment.
What is included in a division of property between cohabitees?
The joint dwelling and household goods of the cohabitees are included in the division of property provided that they acquired the property for joint use. Who paid for the property is irrelevant. Examples of a joint dwelling are real property, or an owner-occupied apartment (bostadsrätt) owned by one or both cohabitees, or a right of tenancy dwelling (hyresrätt) held by one or both cohabitees. Joint household goods are furniture, household appliances and the like intended for the joint home, except for those used exclusively by one of the cohabitees. Dwellings and household goods used mainly for leisure purposes are excluded. Property other than joint property is not included in the division of property.
The rules on division of property contained in the Cohabitees Act do not apply if one of the parties has moved into the other’s dwelling, even if the cohabitees have shared the mortgage repayments and other expenses. But if such a dwelling has been sold and the money used for a new joint dwelling, the new dwelling is included in the division of property.
An owner-occupied apartment or right of tenancy dwelling that the cohabitees use jointly but that was not acquired for their joint use is not included in the division of property. On the other hand, the cohabitee who needs the dwelling the most can take over the dwelling from the other cohabitee. However, where the cohabitees do not have children together, exceptional grounds are necessary to be permitted to take over the dwelling. The cohabitee who takes over a dwelling from the other cohabitee must pay full compensation for the dwelling's value. If one of the cohabitees has died, only the surviving cohabitee has the right to take over the property. The heirs of the deceased cohabitee do not have this right.
A cohabitee who wishes to take over a right of tenancy dwelling, or an owner-occupied apartment must request this no later than one year from the date when the cohabitee relationship ended. However, if the cohabitee leaves the dwelling, the request must be made no later than three months after they leave. The one-year deadline does not apply if the cohabitee occupying the dwelling dies and the surviving cohabitee continues to live in the dwelling.
A joint dwelling and joint household goods that one of the cohabitees has received as a gift through a will or inheritance, where the terms of the gift state that the property must be held as separate property, is never included in a division of property.
The fifty-fifty split rule
In a division of property, the cohabitees’ shares in the property to be divided are calculated first. In the calculation, the debts that the cohabitees had when their relationship ended are deducted from the value of their joint property. As a rule, only debts related to their joint dwelling or joint household goods are deducted, such as debts for mortgages on real property and repayments on furniture.
What then remains should, in principle, be divided equally between the cohabitees. If one of the cohabitees needs the dwelling or the household goods more than the other, they can take over that property. The other cohabitee will then receive other property out of their joint home or money so that each cohabitee receives an equal share.
There are also exceptions to the principle of equal shares. The cohabitee who owns the most property may retain more of their property if the fifty-fifty split rule would lead to an unreasonable result. This considers the duration of the cohabitee relationship, the cohabitees’ finances and other circumstances. In some cases, an adjustment can lead to each party quite simply retaining their own property.
Another exception to the fifty-fifty split rule is a rule known as the ‘mini base amount rule’ (lilla basbeloppsregeln), which only applies in the event of the death of one of the cohabitees. Of the property to be divided after debts have been deducted – provided there is sufficient property to cover this – under the Social Insurance Code, the surviving cohabitee always receives the equivalent of two price base amounts. This rule corresponds in part to the base amount rule that applies in a marriage to the surviving spouse in the event of their spouse’s death.
For cohabitees as well,
there are exceptions to the fifty-fifty split rule.
Current price base amount, Statistics Sweden's website
Children of cohabitees
When the parents of a child are unmarried, parenthood or paternity for the parent who did not give birth to the child must always be specifically established. This also applies when the unmarried parents are cohabitees. Paternity or parenthood is determined by acknowledgement or a judgment of a court (more information about acknowledgement of paternity or parenthood can be found on the page About parenthood).
From birth, the mother of a child of unmarried parents has sole custody of the child, even if the parents are cohabitees. The parents can obtain joint custody by joint notification to the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) or to the municipality’s social welfare committee. A notification of joint custody is often made in connection with the acknowledgement of paternity or parenthood, which can be notified directly to the Swedish Tax Agency within 14 days of the birth of the child.
