If you are just living together you should be aware that there is no such thing as a common law wife or husband. To protect your legal rights you would need a
Living Together Agreement. In some circumstances (as explained elsewhere in this book), a court may award a share of the equity to an unmarried ex-partner, but there are very many cases where they will not award them anything at all, even if they have lived together for years and have brought up the children of the family. This is because the whole area of law involved is very complicated, and certain criteria need to be met for you to have a claim.