Unmarried Couples Property Rights in PA

For decades, Pennsylvania recognized common law marriage. Two people could simply live together as husband and wife, and the law would treat them as married. Then in 2005, that stopped. Act 144 of 2004 abolished common law marriage effective January 2, 2005. Under 23 Pa.C.S. § 1103, the statute is explicit: “No common-law marriage contracted after January 1, 2005, shall be valid.”

This matters more than you might think, especially if you have been in a long-term relationship or are planning one.

What Changed

If you and your partner married by common law before January 2, 2005, that marriage is still valid. You have all the legal rights of a formally married couple: property division if you separate, spousal inheritance rights, the ability to sue for wrongful death.

But if you started or continued your relationship after that date without a formal ceremony, you are not married in the eyes of Pennsylvania law, no matter how long you have lived together or how committed you are to each other. And that creates real legal gaps.

The Rights You Do Not Have

As an unmarried partner, you have no automatic right to equitable distribution of property when the relationship ends. That is a divorce remedy, and you cannot divorce if you were never married. 23 Pa.C.S. § 3502 governs equitable distribution, but it applies only to spouses.

Intestate succession rights are also off the table. Under 20 Pa.C.S. § 2103, if your partner dies without a will, their assets pass to children, parents, or other relatives, not to you. You inherit nothing unless you are specifically named in the will. And if there is no will and you have no legal claim, you may have to watch family members you have never met receive everything.

Electing against the will is not available to you either (§ 2203). A surviving spouse can reject an unfavorable will and instead claim an elective share, a fixed one-third of the estate and certain other property under 20 Pa.C.S. § 2203. This is a separate right from intestate succession, not simply the share intestacy would have provided. You have no such right.

Medical decision-making authority does not come automatically, either. If your partner becomes incapacitated, you may not be able to visit them in the hospital. If your partner has no health care power of attorney, 20 Pa.C.S. § 5461 sets the default order of who decides, and the first five classes are all relatives: spouse, adult children, parents, adult siblings, adult grandchildren. A partner falls in the last class, an adult who knows the person’s preferences and values, and reaches it only if no relative with higher priority is reasonably available. Your partner can also name you as health care representative by a signed writing or by telling the attending physician directly, but do not count on that happening in a crisis. The reliable answer is a health care power of attorney signed in advance.

Wrongful death claims are also closed to you if your partner is killed through someone else’s negligence. Under 42 Pa.C.S. § 8301, a wrongful death action exists only for the benefit of the deceased person’s spouse, children, or parents. An unmarried partner is none of those, so you have no claim.

What You Can Do About It

The law does not leave you helpless, but it does require deliberate action. Married couples get legal protection automatically. You have to build it manually.

A cohabitation agreement is a contract that spells out property rights, financial responsibilities, and what happens if the relationship ends. These are enforceable in Pennsylvania. You can agree on how to divide property, who owns what, and what happens to shared assets.

Holding property as joint tenants with right of survivorship is another option. When one owner dies, the property passes automatically to the surviving joint tenant outside of probate and completely bypasses any will.

A will or trust naming your partner as beneficiary is straightforward and effective.

A power of attorney, both financial and healthcare, naming your partner as your agent gives them actual authority to act on your behalf if you are incapacitated.

Beneficiary designation forms for retirement accounts, life insurance policies, and payable-on-death accounts round it out. These pass directly to your named beneficiary and are not subject to probate or claims against your estate.

Why This Matters in Practice

The gap between married and unmarried couples is real. A married person who does not plan gets legal protections anyway. An unmarried person who does not plan gets nothing. You have to be intentional.

Many couples do not realize the issue until something goes wrong. A sudden death, an injury, a falling-out with family members. These events expose how much the absence of legal status actually costs.

If you are in a committed unmarried relationship and want to protect each other, you need to take action now. It is not expensive, but it is necessary.

If you want to protect yourself, call us. We handle the family law and estate planning sides together so nothing falls through the cracks. Ballow & Lynde, 1200 Veterans Highway, Suite B-3, Bristol, PA 19007, lawyermarc.com.

Need help protecting your rights as an unmarried couple? Ballow & Lynde represents clients throughout Bucks County in family law, estate planning, and real estate matters. Schedule a free consultation or call us at 215-949-0888.

Related Practice Areas:

• Real Estate
• Estate Planning
• Family Law
• Unmarried Couples’ Rights & Obligations

Legal and factual content on this page was last verified: Sep. 2026. If you are reading this significantly after that date, confirm key provisions with current statute text or contact our office.