Legal Definitions - lascivious cohabitation

Lascivious cohabitation refers to an unmarried couple living together in a sexual relationship, where their conduct is considered openly immoral, scandalous, or offensive to public decency according to prevailing societal standards or specific legal statutes. Historically, laws against such cohabitation were intended to uphold traditional moral values regarding marriage and sexual conduct. While largely obsolete and unenforced in many modern legal systems, the term reflects a historical legal and social disapproval of unmarried sexual partnerships.

• Example 1: Historical Community Reaction

  In a small, religiously conservative town in the early 20th century, a man and a woman, both unmarried, openly moved into a house together. They presented themselves as a couple, shared a bedroom, and were known to be in a sexual relationship, despite not being legally married. Their neighbors and local authorities viewed their arrangement as a public scandal.

  This scenario illustrates lascivious cohabitation because the couple was living together in an unmarried, sexual relationship that was openly known and considered scandalous or immoral by the community, potentially leading to social ostracization or even legal charges under historical statutes designed to punish such conduct.

• Example 2: Alimony Termination Clause

  Decades ago, a divorce decree for a couple in a state with more conservative laws included a clause stating that the wife's alimony payments would terminate if she engaged in "lascivious cohabitation." Years later, she began living with a new partner, sharing a bed and presenting themselves as a couple, without marrying him.

  Here, "lascivious cohabitation" is used in a contractual or judicial context. Her living arrangement with her new partner, involving a sexual relationship outside of marriage, would likely be interpreted as meeting the definition of lascivious cohabitation, potentially leading to the termination of her alimony payments as stipulated in the divorce decree. This shows the legal consequences tied to the term, even if not a criminal prosecution.

• Example 3: Property Covenant Violation

  An old, restrictive covenant in a deed for a property in a historically moralistic community stated that the property could not be used for "lascivious cohabitation." A new owner, unaware of the covenant's implications, allowed an unmarried couple to live there, openly engaging in a sexual relationship.

  This example demonstrates how "lascivious cohabitation" could be a basis for violating a property covenant. The unmarried couple's open sexual relationship while living on the property would be considered "lascivious cohabitation" under the terms of the covenant, potentially leading to legal action by other property owners or the community association to enforce the restriction.