My partner and I broke up, and I moved out of their house — am I entitled to any of our furniture we both paid for?

But when cohabitating couples break up, it can end up costing them — even more than a few months’ rent would have when you factor in any money they put into the home and moving fees. Some studies show that ending a cohabitation costs even more than a divorce. That’s because there’s little to no legal support when it comes to dividing assets.

If an unmarried couple living together breaks up, what happens to their shared belongings — particularly the furniture?

“Nobody thinks about the bedroom set until someone is moving out,” Matthew Willner, LCSW, a licensed psychotherapist, tells Moneywise. “While this rarely leads to issues when the relationship is thriving, it can cause major conflict upon a separation.”

Curious case of Adrian and Ella

Take, for example, Adrian and Ella.

When Adrian bought a house on his own, he asked his partner, Ella, to move in with him. The house was Adrian’s. He paid the mortgage and never asked or expected Ella to contribute financially. But Ella contributed in another way: She bought most of the furniture that filled their home, including the entire living room and bedroom sets.

The arrangement worked for a few years. Eventually, they even planned to sell Adrian’s house and buy a new one together, with the expectation they would split the financial responsibilities.

Then they broke up.

Now Ella has moved out, but she’s wondering what she can take with her.

She paid for most of the furniture, but Adrian paid the mortgage. Does Ella get to take the furniture she bought, or does Adrian get to keep it?

Ella paid for the furniture. Does that make it hers?

For an unmarried couple, ownership of personal property can depend on factors such as who purchased it, whether both people contributed money toward it, whether it was intended as a gift and whether the couple had any ownership agreement.

In Ella’s case, she purchased the furniture herself, and it was not intended as a gift for Adrian. That makes the question of legal ownership relatively straightforward for those particular items, but the details matter.

“Is she entitled to it? In general, yes, unless there’s evidence she gave it away,” family law attorney Jean Brown of Jean Brown Law told Moneywise. “Ownership usually follows who bought the item, and the fact that her partner owns the house and pays the mortgage doesn’t make the furniture his. Living together doesn’t turn a purchase into a gift.”

There is an important distinction between owning the house and owning the things inside it. A dining table, bedroom set or couch isn’t necessarily treated the same way as the real estate itself.

“Owning the house does not automatically mean owning everything inside it; furniture is personal property, and allowing a partner to use it during a relationship does not, by itself, establish that ownership was transferred,” Damian Turco, Esq., Managing Partner at Turco Legal, explains to Moneywise. “The applicable state law and the couple’s actual understanding are the controlling factors.”

Adrian could still argue that he carried the cost of providing the home. That’s where things can get less clear emotionally, even if the legal ownership of an individual item is relatively clear.

“While the receipts can settle who legally owns the furniture in a breakup, that does nothing to settle the internal ledger each of them holds in a shared home and belongings,” Willner says. “Ella may be legally entitled to the furniture, but this conflict is about more than just receipts.”

What should Adrian and Ella do about the furniture?

The simplest solution would be for Adrian and Ella to make a list of the furniture Ella purchased and determine what she legally owns and what she wants to take. That could mean looking at receipts, bank or credit-card statements, delivery records or other documentation showing who paid for particular items.

“What will matter is proof, like receipts and bank records, and any texts showing what they intended,” Brown explains. “If Adrian argues that Ella was contributing in place of rent, that’s a fact question, not an automatic win.”

Brown said it’s best to make a written inventory with photos that match the receipts. Then Ella should send a calm written request with a pickup date, keeping the tone cooperative.

“Be flexible on large or hard-to-move pieces, like a buyout or swap,” Brown recommended.

In a perfect scenario for Ella, Adrian would willingly agree to give her back everything she bought, assuming she wants it and has a new place to put it all. If she doesn’t have a new place to put the furniture, like if she moved back into her parents’ house or it’s too big for her new studio space, Adrian could also compensate Ella for the furniture instead. He would keep it, but she would get the money for it.

While they could agree on compensation based on the purchase price, it would make more sense for the couple to consider the furniture’s current resale value and negotiate a practical price point. That’s because a bedroom set or couch might have depreciated in vaue.

“For a negotiated buyout, I would consider the furniture’s age, condition and reasonable resale value, not simply assume the original retail price is the right number,” Turco says. “The question on value should be, ‘What is this used item worth today?’ and not, ‘How much did we pay for this? or ‘How much will it cost me to buy a new one?’”

If they genuinely own items together, he added that they should agree on dividing it up or have one of them pay out for the items.

Considering the emotional cost of shared belongings

The couple should also consider whether hanging onto possessions will make moving on from the breakup more emotionally difficult.

“Breakups also typically carry emotional baggage, and it is important to consider enabling both partners to move on as best as possible, both financially and emotionally,” Andy Heller, real estate investment speaker and author of Take the High Road to Divorce, tells Moneywise. “The emotional factor is often more important than the financial component. With some breakups, it is healthy for the couple to begin anew, and that can include a new residence and also new furniture.”