Cohabiting tenants: What are the rules? - Only 1 partner signs the lease
Verified 02 juin 2023 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)
Only the spouse who signed the lease is the holder of the lease (or legal lessee housing).
The other spouse has no right or title to the housing, even though they decided together to share the rent payment.
Only the partner who has signed the lease is liable for the payment of rent and charges to the landlord (or real estate agency). As a result, the landlord (or real estate agency) can never claim payment from the other partner, unless the other partner has taken action surety.
FYI
To claim payment from the surety, the owner (or real estate agency) must respect certain rules.
The partner who signed the lease must give notice (leave) to the owner (or real estate agency).
The other partner must leave the dwelling no later than the departure of the partner who signed the lease, unless the owner (or real estate agency) agrees to sign a new lease with the other partner.
When the partner who signed the lease dies, the other partner can obtain the transfer of the lease under certain conditions, which depend on the rented accommodation:
The remaining spouse can obtain the lease transfer if all conditions the following are completed:
- The cohabitation was well-known (the relationship was continuous, stable and known). Cohabitation can be proven by any means (attestation of relatives, invoices...)
- At the time of death, he had been living for at least 1 year with the partner who signed the lease
If all these conditions are not met, the partner can only stay in the dwelling by signing a new lease with the owner (or with the real estate agency).
Abandonment of domicile occurs when the following conditions are met:
- Where the departure of the spouse who holds the lease is made inevitable and definitive by reason of his or her state of health, and this departure is binding on him or herself and on the other spouse.
For example, this is the case when the cohabiting partner who holds the lease settles in a retirement home. - Or when the departure of the spouse holding the lease is abrupt and unpredictable and has been scheduled without the other spouse's knowledge.
For example, it's the case when the spouse who holds the lease leaves while the other spouse is at work, taking personal belongings, furniture—
Where the cohabiting partner in possession of the lease abandons the dwelling, the other cohabiting partner may obtain the transfer of the lease under certain conditions, which depend on the rented dwelling:
The remaining spouse can obtain the lease transfer if all of the following conditions are met:
- The cohabitation was well-known (the relationship was continuous, stable and known). He can prove cohabitation by any means (attestation of relatives, invoices...)
- He had been living with the cohabiting partner of the lease for at least 1 year, at the time of the abandonment
If the cohabitation lasted less than a year, he can only stay in the house by signing a new lease with the owner (or with the real estate agency).
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Telephone administrative information - Allo Public Service
For more information on this topic, you can contact Allô Service Public.
Attention: the service does not have access to users' personal files and cannot therefore provide information on their status.
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The informants who answer you belong to the ministry in charge of housing and city planning.
- Departmental Agency for Housing Information (Adil)
Abandonment, death (general case)
Abandonment, death (social housing)
Abandonment, death (so-called "Law of 48")
Cohabitation and solidarity clause (VI)