The law relating to cohabiting couples

The risks faced by cohabiting couple families at the end of their relationship or on the death of one of the parties, has again been called for reform by The House of Commons.  

MP’s are once again calling for a legal scheme which gives automatic rights to cohabiting couples to be introduced, from which couples can opt out if they wish. As the law currently stands in England and Wales, cohabiting couples have extremely limited legal rights compared to couples who are married or in a civil partnership.

They are also calling for a campaign to raise public awareness on the legal differences between the rights of cohabiting couples, compared to those who are married or in a civil partnership, as there remains a significant lack of public awareness of the lack of legal protection that cohabiting couples face in England and Wales.

MP’s are, again, calling to amend the Intestacy Rules, so that cohabiting couples can inherit from their partner if they die leaving no will and also to bring parity with those who are married or in a civil partnership in relation to inheritance tax.  

It is great to see that the House of Commons is again pushing for the government to redress the inequalities in the law that relates to cohabiting couples. I very much hope that within the two months that the government has to respond to the recommendations, they finally agree to bring in laws to remedy the laws that place cohabiting couples at such a significant disadvantage, compared to their married counterparts.

There are an estimated 3.6 million cohabiting families in the UK. Statistics suggest that couples living in a legally registered partnership in the UK (including marriage or civil partnership), have increased by 3.7% in the last 10 years. By stark contrast, it is estimated that the number of cohabiting couple families increased by 22.9% over the same period.  

It is clear cohabiting couple families are massively on the rise. They now form an estimated  17% of all families in the UK and that percentage is only getting bigger. It would be unfair for the government to ignore that such a large proportion of our population continue to be in an extremely vulnerable position, in the event of their relationship breaking down or the death of their partner.  

At Birkett Long we are experts in all areas of family law, including that which relates to families who are cohabiting.  

If you would like to understand more about your rights please contact Mel Loxley on 01206 217384 or mel.loxley@birkettlong.co.uk for a free 15 minute telephone consultation.