Many couples decide to live together outside of marriage.   Cohabitation doesn’t carry the immoral stigma today that it once did.   There are pros and cons to living together.  If a woman doesn’t want to get married or have children, then living together could work for her.  If you are engaged and have a wedding date in mind, then cohabitating for a short period of time, could be an option before marriage.  Some couples feel that they love each other and don’t need to prove their love by getting a piece of paper to say they are committed to each other

These are some things to consider when contemplating living together.

PROS

• You can certainly live cheaper when you are sharing the rent and expenses with someone else.  This can provide financial stability.
• Having your significant other there on a daily basis, allows more time to spend together.
• If you are in a committed relationship and you are contemplating marriage,  you get to see if marriage would work.  It’s a trial run.
• Men benefit the most by the convenience of having a live-in lover, housekeeper, cook, etc.
• Since you are sleeping together nightly, there’s no excuse for not having sex frequently.
• If things don’t work out with your living arrangement, there’s no divorce papers to be filed.  You just break up and move out without any legal consequences.

 

CONS

• Both parties lose some freedom, privacy, and space that comes with moving in together.
• It forces you to be grounded, in a sense.   It would make cheating more difficult.  You can’t stay out all night and not have someone to answer to.
• Sometimes living together causes couples to dismiss the idea of marriage.  They don’t see what marriage offers.  They feel they are getting it all by living together.
• Living together is not a commitment to each other.  It’s just playing house.  Marriage is the biggest commitment you can make to each other.
• You get to see to see each others annoying habits, that you can’t tolerate and may realize you love each other, but you can’t live together.
• Most relationships end when couples live together before marriage or in divorce after marriage. (50%)
• When a cohabitation relationship ends, it’s more difficult to split up properties, custody of children conceived or items purchased together while unmarried to each other.  The law doesn’t protect you the same as it would protect you with a marriage license.
• A marriage license provides financial gains, in the event of an untimely death.

 

Deciding whether or not living together is best for you, just know this is a big decision that you should not rush to make.