A universal partnership is an express or tacit agreement between two parties, including same-sex couples who choose to live together in a permanent relationship without marrying. They share the same responsibilities and obligations of a married couple, including their present and future assets. In other words, all of their property is owned jointly during the relationship. When looking at the legal consequences, our law does not give automatic rights to partners in a cohabitation relationship. If one of the parties dies without leaving a Will, the domestic partner is not legally entitled to inherit or to claim maintenance from the deceased’s estate. An aggrieved party would have to go to court to show that the parties were partners in a ‘universal partnership’ and that the one party owes something to the other.