The Enforcement of Cohabitation Agreements: Theories of Recovery for the Meretricious Spouse

Authors

Elisabeth Townsend Davis, University of Nebraska College of Law

Abstract

This Comment explores the developing legal protections available in nonmarital relationships, and the corresponding problems and public policy concerns arising from the legal recognition, and nonrecognition, of the property rights of unmarried cohabitors.

I. Introduction

II. Defining the Problem: The Legal Distinctions between Married Spouses, Putative Spouses,and Meretricious Spouses

III. Limiting the Application of the “Meretricious Spouse Rule”

IV. Theories of Recovery … A. Marital Status … B. Express Oral Agreement … C. Express Written Agreement … D. Contracts Implied-In-Fact … E. Contracts Implied-In-Law

V. Amount of Recovery

VI. Enforcement of Agreements between Unmarried Cohabitors in Nebraska

VII. Recommendations for Legislative Action

VIII. Conclusion

Recommended Citation

Elisabeth Townsend Davis, The Enforcement of Cohabitation Agreements: Theories of Recovery for the Meretricious Spouse, 61 Neb. L. Rev. (1982)
Available at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/nlr/vol61/iss1/7