UK set to introduce new laws for unmarried couples
Key Points
- The government has launched a 10-week consultation that could give more than 3.5 million unmarried couples stronger financial and inheritance rights.
- Cohabiting partners could gain a share of a house sale when a relationship ends and automatic inheritance rights if a partner dies without a will.
- Couples would need to have lived together for at least three years or share a child to qualify.
- The consultation also looks at domestic abuse protections and making pre-nuptial and post-nuptial agreements legally binding.
- The consultation opened on 5 June and closes on 14 August, with any reforms following when parliamentary time allows.
The government has launched a 10-week consultation that could give more than 3.5 million unmarried couples in England and Wales stronger financial and inheritance rights when a relationship ends through separation or death.
The consultation, published by the Ministry of Justice on Friday (5 June), sets out proposals to extend protections that currently apply mainly to married couples and civil partners to people who live together without marrying.
Under the current system, unmarried couples who live together have limited financial rights if their relationship breaks down, according to the Ministry of Justice.
The consultation proposes changing that, with the government stating that individuals could gain access to a share of a house sale when a relationship ends, helping the financially weaker partner secure their future.
Bereaved cohabiting partners would also be given automatic rights to inherit if their partner dies without a will. At present, unmarried partners have no automatic inheritance entitlement in that situation unless they co-own property or are named in a will.
Who would qualify?
The government is proposing that couples must have lived together for at least three years, or share a child, to access the new framework. Courts would also have to be satisfied that a couple were in an enduring family relationship before the rights applied.
The Ministry of Justice said the proposed framework would give cohabiting couples a distinct and different set of rights from married couples, which it said would help preserve the sanctity of marriage.
The consultation will also explore whether courts should give greater weight to the impact of domestic abuse, including controlling or coercive behaviour and economic abuse, when assessing finances for both married couples and cohabitants.
Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy said each partner should have the support and certainty they need to rebuild their life when a relationship ends.
Lammy said the consultation was intended to build a fair system that offers the most vulnerable protection in the event of a breakup at a time when the country faces cost of living pressures, adding that the law should protect people whether they have been bereaved by the sudden death of a partner or escaped domestic abuse.
Justice Minister Baroness Levitt KC added that financial independence should be available to everybody and not just those who choose to marry or enter a civil partnership. Levitt said too many women who have suffered domestic abuse are left destitute at the end of a relationship because they have been denied rights they deserve.
Prenuptial agreements
The government is also proposing to make pre-nuptial and post-nuptial agreements legally binding, so people who choose to enter one can be confident their financial wishes will be honoured if they divorce.
The consultation will additionally consider how divorcing couples can resolve financial disputes more easily and fairly.
The consultation officially opened on Friday and runs for 10 weeks, closing on 14 August. The government will invite views from the public, legal professionals, academics, charities and other stakeholders, and said it will consider the findings carefully before finalising policy.
Any finalised reforms will take place when parliamentary time allows.
