Chris Fick & Associates

Why life partners still need cohabitation agreements and wills

Some 32 million South Africans co-habit outside marriage (that’s actually from a 2016 census – the number is probably higher now). With the concept of “common law marriage” being a total fiction – albeit a persistent one – life partners need to understand the risks they run in not putting into place both valid wills […]

Life partners – You still need a will and a cohabitation agreement!

A recent High Court decision has been widely viewed as an important victory for the rights of unmarried opposite-sex life partners. Until now, if one such partner died intestate (without making a will), the other could not inherit on the same basis as could a married spouse. Nor could the surviving life partner claim maintenance […]