Should I live with my fiancé before getting married?

Host: Should I live with my fiance before getting married?

Bill Cochran: If you asked that question to your pastor or priest or rabbi, I am pretty sure they would have told you no. What I am discovering though is it's the vast norm across our country today that couples are living together before getting married.

Now in the years past there had been lot of studies done on the effect that has on the happiness and longevity of the marriage, suggesting in the past that it's rather negative. I think we are in an era where things are changing a bit. What I am discovering is that probably 90-95% of the couples like married in the past year haven't been living together.

A lot of them I have been doing some pre-marriage counseling with and the value I discover is they know what it is they need to work on. There is no secrets, no questions there about it. So, they are much easier to work with because before they get married they want to work through these issues and make sure that they are going to move beyond them.

Whether or not you should, I would never say that. There is values both ways obviously. That's a decision that you and your intended need to make but nowadays most couples are moving in together long before they decide to get married and so some see it as a part of the process.