Co-Habitation Agreements Centurion

A co-habitation agreement in Centurion is a written private contract that records how unmarried partners will own property, share contributions, address children and manage separation; living together does not itself create a South African common-law marriage or a complete set of automatic spousal rights. The agreement is not registered at the Deeds Office, but where a couple needs stronger evidentiary support or recognition for a spousal-visa, work benefit or other third-party purpose, signing before a Notary Public can create a Protocol Number and a notarial record. Burger Huyser Attorneys’ Centurion branch at Block 12, Unit 34, First Floor, Central Office Park, 257 Jean Avenue, Centurion, 0157 (012 644 4990) can review or draft an agreement and coordinate notarial execution where appropriate.

Why Unmarried Couples Use a Co-Habitation Agreement

South African law does not convert cohabitation into marriage, regardless of how long a couple has lived together. The phrase “common-law marriage” is often used in everyday conversation, but it does not produce the matrimonial property regime, spousal maintenance duty, automatic inheritance protection or occupation rights that a valid marriage creates under the Matrimonial Property Act 88 of 1984.

The practical gap is real. Cohabitants do not automatically receive the protection married spouses enjoy, including an undivided share in the joint estate, a duty of spousal support on separation, a guaranteed right of inheritance, or the right to remain in the family home. The Constitutional Court’s decision in Bwanya v Master of the High Court Cape Town (CCT 241/20, judgment 31 December 2021) declared aspects of section 2 of the Maintenance of Surviving Spouses Act 27 of 1990 and section 1(1) of the Intestate Succession Act 81 of 1987 unconstitutional insofar as those provisions excluded surviving permanent opposite-sex life partners; the declaration was suspended for 18 months for Parliament to address the defect, and the current statutory position must be confirmed before any agreement is signed.

A written co-habitation agreement makes clear who owns existing assets, who owns future acquisitions, how household expenses are divided, what happens to improvements funded by one partner, whether contractual support is promised, and how the relationship ends. Relying on a later universal-partnership claim is a litigation fallback — not a substitute for recording the parties’ intentions while the relationship is functioning.

What Burger Huyser’s Centurion Service Covers

Burger Huyser Attorneys’ Centurion branch handles co-habitation-agreement work through its Family Law team, with notarial and conveyancing capability available in-house where the couple’s intended use calls for formal execution. The engagement typically runs through five stages:

1. Initial consultation and fact review — confirming both partners are free to marry, identifying existing marriage or civil-union obligations, and mapping the property, financial, child-related or immigration issues that need to be addressed.
2. Asset and liability schedule — recording property, vehicles, bank accounts, investments, business interests, insurance, pension or provident-fund nominations, household goods, joint debts and any deposit or bond contributions.
3. Tailored drafting or review — preparing a plain-language agreement from the couple’s instructions, or reviewing an existing draft for incomplete coverage, vague clauses, unequal contributions and enforceability concerns.
4. Signing and optional notarial execution — arranging signing by both parties and, where the purpose calls for it, coordinating execution before a qualified Notary Public, with identity-document checks, duplicate originals and a Protocol Number.
5. Related family-law coordination — flagging the need for updated wills, beneficiary nominations, a parenting plan, estate planning, an antenuptial contract or advice about a universal-partnership risk, rather than treating the co-habitation agreement as a stand-alone document.

What the Agreement Should Cover

Most well-drafted Centurion co-habitation agreements address the following ten topics. The list below is a drafting checklist, not a substitute for tailored clauses:

1. Existing ownership — list assets each partner owns at signature and state whether those assets remain separate or are deliberately shared.
2. Future acquisitions — specify ownership percentages or another agreed formula for a home, vehicle, furniture, investments or business interests bought during the relationship.
3. Deposits, bonds and improvements — record how a deposit, bond instalment or renovation funded by one partner affects ownership, reimbursement or a value-share claim. This is important where the title deed is in one partner’s name.
4. Household expenses — allocate rent, bond payments, rates, utilities, insurance, groceries, school fees and other recurring expenses, with a mechanism for shortfalls and material income changes.
5. Debt and guarantees — distinguish individual liabilities from joint borrowing and explain who carries a payment if a partner defaults or a lender enforces a joint obligation.
6. Support and separation — state whether either partner will receive contractual support, how it is calculated, the duration, the triggers and the notice process. A one-month notice period is a common drafting example rather than a universal legal rule.
7. Children — include a parenting plan consistent with the Children’s Act 38 of 2005 covering care, contact and child maintenance. The agreement cannot contract away a child’s best interests or a biological parent’s legal maintenance obligation.
8. Universal-partnership position — include an express clause recording whether the parties intend to create a universal partnership, but explain that wording must be tailored and cannot defeat public policy or facts that later arise.
9. Dispute resolution — set out good-faith discussion, mediation and any arbitration route, while preserving the ability to seek urgent court protection.
10. Death and review — align the agreement with wills, life-policy and retirement-fund beneficiary nominations, and include a review trigger after a material change such as a property purchase, child, business change or marriage plan.

Co-Habitation Agreement vs Antenuptial Contract

Couples in Centurion often confuse the two documents. A co-habitation agreement is not registered at the Pretoria Deeds Office and is not a substitute for an antenuptial contract (ANC) signed before marriage. The differences matter:

Issue	Co-Habitation Agreement	Antenuptial Contract (ANC)
Parties	Unmarried partners living together or planning to do so	Couples who intend to marry
Main function	Records private arrangements on ownership, contributions, support, children and separation	Chooses the matrimonial property regime for the marriage
Legal framework	General contract principles, with related property, family and succession law	Matrimonial Property Act 88 of 1984 and the Deeds Registries Act 47 of 1937
Deeds Office registration	Not registered as an ANC	Must be registered with the Deeds Office within three months of execution to operate against third parties on marriage
Notarial execution	Not automatically required merely because the couple lives together; useful or required for specified third-party recognition and evidentiary purposes	Signed and attested before a Notary Public
Change later	Can generally be amended or cancelled by a further written agreement, with a notarial deed where the document was notarially executed	Post-marriage changes ordinarily require the applicable formal process and court approval

Couples planning to marry may need both documents at different stages, and the choice of matrimonial property regime (in community of property, out of community with accrual, or out of community without accrual) should be confirmed against current legislation before signing. The firm’s Antenuptial Contract service is the natural next step where the relationship moves towards marriage.

The Notarial Layer and the Protocol Number

A private written agreement records the parties’ arrangement between themselves. A Notary Public adds formal authentication and a secure protocol record. Where a spousal-visa, work-benefit, medical-scheme, pension-related or other third-party recognition purpose exists, the parties may need notarial execution and a Protocol Number rather than treating notarisation as a universal requirement.

The practical process is straightforward: both parties confirm identity documents, sign in the required form, retain duplicate originals, and the notarial original or second original is filed in the Notary’s Protocol with the allocated number. Burger Huyser’s Centurion branch holds notarial and conveyancing capability in-house, so drafting, execution and protocol recording can be coordinated through one firm.

Legal Risks Without Careful Drafting

Unmarried couples face several recurring risks that a tailored agreement is designed to address:

• Universal partnership: a later claim requires an aim to make a profit, contributions by both parties, operation for the benefit of both, and a legitimate contract. Such claims are fact-heavy and uncertain, so recording the position up front is usually cheaper than litigating after separation.
• Property in one name: a non-owner may face eviction on reasonable notice and may need to prove a separate contractual, universal-partnership or unjust-enrichment claim; ownership and occupation should be addressed expressly in the agreement.
• Joint property and debt: co-owners hold undivided shares and share upkeep obligations; joint borrowers or sureties may expose each party to the lender’s full enforcement claim.
• Maintenance and donations: ordinary cohabitation does not create an automatic partner-maintenance obligation, and money or property given during the relationship is not automatically recoverable as a loan.
• Death: Bwanya v Master of the High Court Cape Town is a constitutional ruling about exclusions affecting permanent opposite-sex life partners; the suspended declaration and the current statutory position must be checked, and a will with current beneficiary nominations gives certainty where the common-law position is unclear.
• Safety and protection: the Domestic Violence Act 116 of 1998 applies to cohabitants and should be referenced where the agreement includes safety or urgent-relief provisions.

Centurion File Process, Costs and Documents to Bring

The Centurion branch runs the engagement through a clear sequence: consultation and conflict check, exchange of identity, asset and liability information, first tailored draft or review, comments and revisions, final signing, optional notarial execution and protocol recording, and coordinated review of wills, beneficiary nominations or ANC requirements where relevant. Costs are quoted after the facts and scope are reviewed; this protects both parties from guesswork and from unnecessary revisions later. Competitor-published SERP figures (approximately R1,200 for drafting and consultation to signature, R1,700 all-inclusive for drafting plus notarial attestation, approximately R1,199 for attestation of an already-drafted short agreement, and approximately R1,200 per hour for mediation) are illustrative only and are not Burger Huyser’s price list or a guaranteed market rate.

There is no fixed turnaround before the facts and level of agreement are known. A straightforward agreement can progress once both partners provide complete instructions and agree on the commercial terms; property, business, children, immigration evidence, incomplete disclosure or disagreement between the parties will extend the process.

What to bring to the first Centurion consultation

Category	Documents or information
Identity	Both partners’ identity documents or passports
Assets and liabilities	A list of existing assets and debts; title-deed, bond, lease and vehicle details; business or trust information
Insurance and retirement	Life-policy, pension and provident-fund beneficiary details
Existing planning	Existing wills, antenuptial contracts, prior agreements, current parenting plan
Children	Children’s birth certificates and any current parenting plan
Third-party requirements	Any immigration, spousal-visa, work-benefit or pension-fund requirement that motivates notarial execution

Choosing a Centurion Attorney for the Work

Look for a firm that combines family-law competence with notarial and conveyancing capability, so that drafting, execution and protocol recording can run through one set of files. The drafter should understand how the agreement crosses into property, children, maintenance, succession and sometimes immigration evidence, and should be willing to explain how independent advice or separate representation will be handled if the parties’ interests diverge later.

Burger Huyser Attorneys’ Centurion branch is set up to close that gap for Centurion couples: the Family Law team drafts and reviews the agreement, while the firm’s qualified Notary/Conveyancer on staff can attest the signature and file the protocol record where the intended use calls for it. The branch is listed as a member of the Gauteng Family Law Forum, a relevant regional professional connection for work that may overlap with children, property, succession or maintenance. Plain-language drafting, a written fee scope and revisions policy, and a confirmed appointment before signing or notarisation are all reasonable requests to make before instructing.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does Burger Huyser Attorneys do for a Centurion co-habitation agreement?

The Family Law team can discuss the couple’s objectives, review assets and liabilities, draft or review the agreement, explain the practical effect of the clauses and coordinate signing. Where the intended use requires a notarial record, the firm can also coordinate its notarial and conveyancing capability; the precise scope and fee should be confirmed after the initial consultation.

Do we need a Notary Public to sign the agreement?

Notarial execution is not automatically required simply because two people live together, and a co-habitation agreement is not registered at the Deeds Office. A Notary Public becomes particularly relevant where the couple needs formal authentication, a Protocol Number or recognition for a spousal-visa, work-benefit or other third-party purpose; the receiving institution’s current requirements should be checked.

How much does a co-habitation agreement cost in Centurion?

Burger Huyser should quote after reviewing the couple’s assets, children, debts, revisions and whether notarial execution or mediation is needed. Competitor-published SERP benchmarks range from approximately R1,200 for drafting and consultation to signature, approximately R1,700 for drafting plus notarial attestation, approximately R1,199 for attestation of an already-drafted short agreement and approximately R1,200 per hour for mediation; those figures are illustrative only and are not Burger Huyser’s rates.

How long will the agreement take to prepare?

There is no responsible fixed promise before the facts and level of agreement are known. Timing depends on complete disclosure, the number of assets and clauses, whether property or children are involved, how quickly both partners comment and whether the final document must be signed before a Notary Public.

What should we bring to the first consultation?

Both partners should bring identity documents or passports, a list of assets and liabilities, property and bond or lease details, vehicle and business information, existing wills, beneficiary nominations, and relevant children’s documents or parenting plans. Existing agreements and any immigration or benefit requirement should also be disclosed at the start.

Is an ANC the same as a co-habitation agreement?

No. An ANC is signed before marriage, selects the matrimonial property regime under the Matrimonial Property Act 88 of 1984 and follows Deeds Office registration requirements. A co-habitation agreement governs arrangements between unmarried partners and is not registered as an ANC; couples planning to marry may need both documents at different stages.

Can the agreement deal with children and maintenance?

It can record parenting arrangements, care, contact and a proposed maintenance framework consistent with the Children’s Act 38 of 2005. It cannot override the child’s best interests or remove a biological parent’s legal child-maintenance responsibility, and a separate parenting plan or court order may be appropriate.

Where is the Centurion branch?

The Centurion office is at Block 12, Unit 34, First Floor, Central Office Park, 257 Jean Avenue, Centurion, 0157. The telephone number is 012 644 4990, and the branch is listed as open Monday to Friday from 7:30am to 4:30pm; clients should confirm an appointment before attending for signing or notarisation.

Speak to Burger Huyser Attorneys’ Centurion Branch

If you and your partner want clear written arrangements on property, contributions, children, support or separation, Burger Huyser Attorneys’ Centurion branch can discuss the appropriate agreement and coordinate review, drafting and notarial execution where required. Contact the branch on 012 644 4990 or visit Block 12, Unit 34, First Floor, Central Office Park, 257 Jean Avenue, Centurion, 0157, during Monday-to-Friday office hours; the firm holds a 4.8/5 average across 250+ Google reviews, Trustindex verified.