There has been an increase in the number of senior couples who prefer to live together without matrimony.

  These couples could clearly define their financial rights through a cohabitation agreement.

An increasing number of senior couples now prefer to live out the rest of their years living together, without ever separating or getting married. According to a new study, which has been published in the Journal of Marriage and Family, there has been a growth in the number of senior citizens who are finding living together long-term an attractive option.  Cohabitation is turning out to be a fine alternative for many seniors, for whom this is the second or third shot at long-term personal happiness.

The overall number of married senior citizens in the United States is still much higher than the number of seniors who are cohabiting or living together.  However, over the past decade, the number of senior couples cohabiting as increased by 100%.  In 2010, an estimated 2.75 million people above the age of 50 were believed to be cohabiting.  Just one decade earlier, that number was just 1.2 million.

The increase was also significant among seniors in the age group of 50 to 64.  12% of people in this category were living together with another partner in 2010.  That was an increase from 7% 10 years ago.

What is also interesting to family lawyers is that senior couples, who cohabit seem to have very stable and successful relationships.  Cohabitation is proving to be a very good alternative to marriage for the elderly.  For a senior citizen, cohabiting can have a lot of financial advantages.  If the senior is a widow or widower, he or she does not have to give up the spouse’s Social Security benefits, which would have been a certainty if the senior had remarried.