{"id":4630,"date":"2022-01-26T12:11:55","date_gmt":"2022-01-26T10:11:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\/law\/?p=4630"},"modified":"2022-01-26T12:16:25","modified_gmt":"2022-01-26T10:16:25","slug":"why-life-partners-still-need-cohabitation-agreements-and-wills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\/law\/2022\/why-life-partners-still-need-cohabitation-agreements-and-wills\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Life Partners Still Need Cohabitation Agreements and Wills"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>\u201cCensus data of 2016 reveals that approximately 3.2 million South Africans cohabit outside of marriage and that this number is increasing steadily.\u201d (Extract from judgment below)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What happens if your life partner dies without leaving you anything in their will (\u201cLast Will and Testament\u201d)? Do you have the same protections as married spouses do?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A lot of the media coverage around the recent Constitutional Court decision dealing with this question may have given the impression that life partners are now as fully protected as if they were in a formal marriage, but that is not so \u2013 not yet anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">First, some background.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Protections for surviving spouses only, not for unmarried life partners<\/h6>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As a starting point, note that the widely-believed and persistent myth of a \u201ccommon law marriage\u201d is just that \u2013 a myth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And the hard truth is that if a life partner dies intestate (without making a will), the other cannot inherit on the same basis as can a married spouse. Nor can the surviving life partner claim maintenance from the deceased estate on the same basis as a surviving spouse can.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Spouses enjoy these protections in terms of two Acts \u2013<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The \u201cMaintenance of Surviving Spouses Act\u201d provides for a spouse to claim maintenance from the deceased estate.<\/li><li>The \u201cIntestate Succession Act\u201d deals with cases where a deceased spouse left no valid will and provides for a spouse to receive only a \u201cchild\u2019s share\u201d of the estate (in other words, to share equally with any children) \u2013 far from ideal of course if the intention was to leave them more, but a lot better than nothing.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Until now those Acts have left any unmarried life partner high and dry. Incidentally, note here that we are talking about opposite-sex life partners in that same-sex partners have for years enjoyed intestate succession rights &#8211; an anomaly of which much was made in this court case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Court\u2019s decision, and why life partners must still protect their positions<\/h6>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">An unmarried man, although intending to marry his (female) partner, died before doing so. He left substantial assets but his will was outdated, leaving everything to his (since deceased) mother. The executor of his deceased estate rejected, primarily on the basis of existing law, her claims to inherit from the estate or to be granted maintenance from it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Confirming High Court declarations of constitutional invalidity, the Constitutional Court held the relevant sections of the Acts to be invalid as they stand, and ordered that they be read so as to include life partners in their protections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However there are critical limitations to bear in mind &#8211;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading\">1) The orders of invalidity aren\u2019t in force yet.\u00a0<\/h6>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Court suspended the orders for 18 months (to June 2023) to give Parliament time to remedy the defects. Perhaps Parliament will move quickly on this and do the necessary before mid-2023, but perhaps it won\u2019t. And in the meantime, your lack of protection remains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading\">2) You will still have to prove your entitlement.\u00a0<\/h6>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You will have to convince the executor and Master of the High Court (possibly in the face of opposition from the deceased\u2019s other family members) that \u2013<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>You were in \u201ca permanent life partnership\u201d (our courts apply a number of tests in assessing this),<\/li><li>As partners you \u201cundertook reciprocal duties of support\u201d (in this case the partners were held to have been \u201cinvolved in a relationship that comprised most, if not all, characteristics of a marriage\u201d),<\/li><li>For your maintenance claim, that your claim is for your \u201creasonable maintenance needs\u201d, and<\/li><li>For your intestate succession claim, that you have \u201cnot received an equitable share in the deceased partner\u2019s estate\u201d.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Even if you think you will have no problem in proving all those things, it is of course much easier and safer to avoid any possible grey areas or dispute by properly recording your status and your agreed undertakings to each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading\">3) \u201cIntestate\u201d Succession is always second prize.\u00a0<\/h6>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As we said above, a \u201cchild\u2019s share\u201d of an estate is a lot better than nothing, but if you want your partner to inherit everything, dying without a will risks prejudicing them badly. Leaving a valid will is the only way to nominate the executor of your choice, and to choose for yourself what happens to your estate on death. It could well be the most important document you ever sign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Life partners: Sign wills and a cohabitation agreement &#8211; now!<\/h6>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That\u2019s a lot of uncertainty and potential for conflict and delay, and there could well be a lot at stake (in this case, some R10m worth of assets in total) but the good news is that it is all very easily avoided \u2013<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Have professional wills drawn up (or have your existing wills checked for necessary changes or updates) and<\/li><li>Enter into a full cohabitation agreement recording exactly what your status is and what undertakings you make to each other. Remember there is no such thing as a \u201ccommon law\u201d marriage in South Africa \u2013 if you aren\u2019t formally married, a cohabitation agreement is the only safe alternative.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A final thought \u2013 no one likes to contemplate their own deaths, but Death by its very nature often knocks without warning, and we live in particularly dangerous times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So don\u2019t delay \u2013 get moving on this now!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Disclaimer:<\/strong>&nbsp;The information provided herein should not be used or relied on as professional advice. No liability can be accepted for any errors or omissions nor for any loss or damage arising from reliance upon any information herein. Always contact your professional adviser for specific and detailed advice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-right wp-block-paragraph\">\u00a9 LawDotNews<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cCensus data of 2016 reveals that approximately 3.2 million South Africans cohabit outside of marriage and that this number is increasing steadily.\u201d (Extract from judgment below) What happens if your life partner dies without leaving you anything in their will (\u201cLast Will and Testament\u201d)? Do you have the same protections as married spouses do? A [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":101014,"featured_media":4631,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-family-law"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Why Life Partners Still Need Cohabitation Agreements and Wills &#8226; LawDotNews<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\/law\/2022\/why-life-partners-still-need-cohabitation-agreements-and-wills\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why Life Partners Still Need Cohabitation Agreements and Wills &#8226; LawDotNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cCensus data of 2016 reveals that approximately 3.2 million South Africans cohabit outside of marriage and that this number is increasing steadily.\u201d (Extract from judgment below) What happens if your life partner dies without leaving you anything in their will (\u201cLast Will and Testament\u201d)? Do you have the same protections as married spouses do? A [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\/law\/2022\/why-life-partners-still-need-cohabitation-agreements-and-wills\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"LawDotNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dotnewscoza\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-01-26T10:11:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-01-26T10:16:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\/law\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/01\/bc9ac8e7-33df-4df9-a397-aada132fcd89.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"650\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"LawDotNews\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@dotnewstweets\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@dotnewstweets\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"LawDotNews\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\\\/law\\\/2022\\\/why-life-partners-still-need-cohabitation-agreements-and-wills\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\\\/law\\\/2022\\\/why-life-partners-still-need-cohabitation-agreements-and-wills\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"LawDotNews\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\\\/law\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1ca6b5523156abce6e7e446cf033d72c\"},\"headline\":\"Why Life Partners Still Need Cohabitation Agreements and Wills\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-01-26T10:11:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-01-26T10:16:25+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\\\/law\\\/2022\\\/why-life-partners-still-need-cohabitation-agreements-and-wills\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":936,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\\\/law\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\\\/law\\\/2022\\\/why-life-partners-still-need-cohabitation-agreements-and-wills\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\\\/law\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2022\\\/01\\\/bc9ac8e7-33df-4df9-a397-aada132fcd89.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Family Law\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-ZA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\\\/law\\\/2022\\\/why-life-partners-still-need-cohabitation-agreements-and-wills\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\\\/law\\\/2022\\\/why-life-partners-still-need-cohabitation-agreements-and-wills\\\/\",\"name\":\"Why Life Partners Still Need Cohabitation Agreements and Wills &#8226; LawDotNews\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\\\/law\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\\\/law\\\/2022\\\/why-life-partners-still-need-cohabitation-agreements-and-wills\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\\\/law\\\/2022\\\/why-life-partners-still-need-cohabitation-agreements-and-wills\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\\\/law\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2022\\\/01\\\/bc9ac8e7-33df-4df9-a397-aada132fcd89.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-01-26T10:11:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-01-26T10:16:25+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\\\/law\\\/2022\\\/why-life-partners-still-need-cohabitation-agreements-and-wills\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-ZA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\\\/law\\\/2022\\\/why-life-partners-still-need-cohabitation-agreements-and-wills\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-ZA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\\\/law\\\/2022\\\/why-life-partners-still-need-cohabitation-agreements-and-wills\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\\\/law\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2022\\\/01\\\/bc9ac8e7-33df-4df9-a397-aada132fcd89.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\\\/law\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2022\\\/01\\\/bc9ac8e7-33df-4df9-a397-aada132fcd89.jpg\",\"width\":650,\"height\":300},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\\\/law\\\/2022\\\/why-life-partners-still-need-cohabitation-agreements-and-wills\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\\\/law\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Why Life Partners Still Need Cohabitation Agreements and Wills\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\\\/law\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\\\/law\\\/\",\"name\":\"LawDotNews\",\"description\":\"Direct to You Target Market!\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\\\/law\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\\\/law\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-ZA\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\\\/law\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"LawDotNews\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\\\/law\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-ZA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\\\/law\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\\\/law\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2016\\\/10\\\/green_3d_target.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\\\/law\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2016\\\/10\\\/green_3d_target.png\",\"width\":350,\"height\":303,\"caption\":\"LawDotNews\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\\\/law\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/dotnewscoza\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/dotnewstweets\",\"http:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/dotnews\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\\\/law\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1ca6b5523156abce6e7e446cf033d72c\",\"name\":\"LawDotNews\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-ZA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/6351bc7854ae7614e8bf3ba2724d57b882c81ee6e06e5ad081f3281760894d91?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/6351bc7854ae7614e8bf3ba2724d57b882c81ee6e06e5ad081f3281760894d91?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/6351bc7854ae7614e8bf3ba2724d57b882c81ee6e06e5ad081f3281760894d91?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"LawDotNews\"},\"description\":\"The LawDotNews client newsletter was started in 2005 to provide law firms with a highly professional, effective, low effort, low cost marketing service in the form of the LawDotNews client newsletter. Grow your practice with regular, quality communication! For the cost of a business lunch, imprint your firm\u2019s name in the minds of your best clients and prospective clients!\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.lawdotnews.co.za\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\\\/law\\\/author\\\/lawdotnews\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Why Life Partners Still Need Cohabitation Agreements and Wills &#8226; LawDotNews","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\/law\/2022\/why-life-partners-still-need-cohabitation-agreements-and-wills\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Why Life Partners Still Need Cohabitation Agreements and Wills &#8226; LawDotNews","og_description":"\u201cCensus data of 2016 reveals that approximately 3.2 million South Africans cohabit outside of marriage and that this number is increasing steadily.\u201d (Extract from judgment below) What happens if your life partner dies without leaving you anything in their will (\u201cLast Will and Testament\u201d)? Do you have the same protections as married spouses do? A [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\/law\/2022\/why-life-partners-still-need-cohabitation-agreements-and-wills\/","og_site_name":"LawDotNews","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dotnewscoza","article_published_time":"2022-01-26T10:11:55+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-01-26T10:16:25+00:00","og_image":[{"width":650,"height":300,"url":"https:\/\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\/law\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/01\/bc9ac8e7-33df-4df9-a397-aada132fcd89.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"LawDotNews","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@dotnewstweets","twitter_site":"@dotnewstweets","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"LawDotNews","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\/law\/2022\/why-life-partners-still-need-cohabitation-agreements-and-wills\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\/law\/2022\/why-life-partners-still-need-cohabitation-agreements-and-wills\/"},"author":{"name":"LawDotNews","@id":"https:\/\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\/law\/#\/schema\/person\/1ca6b5523156abce6e7e446cf033d72c"},"headline":"Why Life Partners Still Need Cohabitation Agreements and Wills","datePublished":"2022-01-26T10:11:55+00:00","dateModified":"2022-01-26T10:16:25+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\/law\/2022\/why-life-partners-still-need-cohabitation-agreements-and-wills\/"},"wordCount":936,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\/law\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\/law\/2022\/why-life-partners-still-need-cohabitation-agreements-and-wills\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\/law\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/01\/bc9ac8e7-33df-4df9-a397-aada132fcd89.jpg","articleSection":["Family Law"],"inLanguage":"en-ZA"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\/law\/2022\/why-life-partners-still-need-cohabitation-agreements-and-wills\/","url":"https:\/\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\/law\/2022\/why-life-partners-still-need-cohabitation-agreements-and-wills\/","name":"Why Life Partners Still Need Cohabitation Agreements and Wills &#8226; LawDotNews","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\/law\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\/law\/2022\/why-life-partners-still-need-cohabitation-agreements-and-wills\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\/law\/2022\/why-life-partners-still-need-cohabitation-agreements-and-wills\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\/law\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/01\/bc9ac8e7-33df-4df9-a397-aada132fcd89.jpg","datePublished":"2022-01-26T10:11:55+00:00","dateModified":"2022-01-26T10:16:25+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\/law\/2022\/why-life-partners-still-need-cohabitation-agreements-and-wills\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-ZA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\/law\/2022\/why-life-partners-still-need-cohabitation-agreements-and-wills\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-ZA","@id":"https:\/\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\/law\/2022\/why-life-partners-still-need-cohabitation-agreements-and-wills\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\/law\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/01\/bc9ac8e7-33df-4df9-a397-aada132fcd89.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\/law\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/01\/bc9ac8e7-33df-4df9-a397-aada132fcd89.jpg","width":650,"height":300},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\/law\/2022\/why-life-partners-still-need-cohabitation-agreements-and-wills\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\/law\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Why Life Partners Still Need Cohabitation Agreements and Wills"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\/law\/#website","url":"https:\/\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\/law\/","name":"LawDotNews","description":"Direct to You Target Market!","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\/law\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\/law\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-ZA"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\/law\/#organization","name":"LawDotNews","url":"https:\/\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\/law\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-ZA","@id":"https:\/\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\/law\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\/law\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/10\/green_3d_target.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\/law\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/10\/green_3d_target.png","width":350,"height":303,"caption":"LawDotNews"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\/law\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dotnewscoza","https:\/\/x.com\/dotnewstweets","http:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/dotnews"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\/law\/#\/schema\/person\/1ca6b5523156abce6e7e446cf033d72c","name":"LawDotNews","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-ZA","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6351bc7854ae7614e8bf3ba2724d57b882c81ee6e06e5ad081f3281760894d91?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6351bc7854ae7614e8bf3ba2724d57b882c81ee6e06e5ad081f3281760894d91?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6351bc7854ae7614e8bf3ba2724d57b882c81ee6e06e5ad081f3281760894d91?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"LawDotNews"},"description":"The LawDotNews client newsletter was started in 2005 to provide law firms with a highly professional, effective, low effort, low cost marketing service in the form of the LawDotNews client newsletter. Grow your practice with regular, quality communication! For the cost of a business lunch, imprint your firm\u2019s name in the minds of your best clients and prospective clients!","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.lawdotnews.co.za"],"url":"https:\/\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\/law\/author\/lawdotnews\/"}]}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"LawDotNews","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\/law","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/101014"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4630"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4630\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4632,"href":"https:\/\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4630\/revisions\/4632"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4631"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}