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Home Rights of Unmarried Cohabitants

If you are unmarried and cohabitate with your partner in their home, do you have any rights or financial interest in the home?

First, under Georgia law, you are considered an at-will tenant and cannot be kicked out of the house. You can only be removed by the legal process of eviction.

As to ownership interest, you would not have any financial interest in the home unless you had a contract. But thanks to cases like Cates v. Brown, 357 Ga. App. 326 (2020) that is no longer the situation. The State of Georgia now recognizes the legal theory of ‘unjust enrichment.’

What does that mean? Unjust enrichment is premised upon the principle that a party cannot induce, accept, or encourage another party to render something of value and yet avoid payment for the value received. 

This claim for unjust enrichment exists where a person asserts that:

  1. the property owner induced or encouraged the person to provide something of value to the property such as paying the mortgage, or spending money on repairs, upkeep, and improvements to the home,
  2. that the person who was induced had provided a benefit to the property owner with the expectation that the property owner would be responsible for the cost,
  3. and that the property owner knew of a benefit being bestowed upon them by the other person, and either chose to accept or failed to reject it.

The most common example is when two people decide to move in together. Although the home is titled in only one person’s name, they treat it as joint property. There may even be a promise to put the other person on the title. Years pass and yet that promise goes unfulfilled. It becomes apparent that the property owner is not going to share the title to the property and is acting again as if it belongs only to themselves. 

That’s when you should call us. You may have a case.


Scott Shaw is founder and principal of Shaw Law Firm PC, founded in 1995 and dedicated solely to divorce, family law and child custody matters that must be addressed and decided in the state of Georgia. Shaw Law Firm has offices in Dunwoody/Sandy Springs and serves the greater Metro Atlanta area, particularly the counties of Fulton, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Cobb, Cherokee, Forsyth, Paulding, Henry, Fayette, Coweta, Newton, Walton, Bartow and Douglas. Schedule a consultation today or call us at 770-594-8309.