Marriage is clearly not for every one. Government figures released earlier this year showed that marriage rates are at the lowest levels since records began.
Long term relationships are just as popular as ever but more people are choosing the informality of living together without marriage. Unfortunately, the law has not yet caught up with the times.Cohabiting couples may find themselves left out in the cold when it comes to legal recognition of their relationships and can suffer real financial hardship as a result.
The laws determining what happens to a person’s assets if they die without a Will known as the Intestacy Rules make no provision for cohabiting partners.This means that a surviving cohabitee will not be able to inherit assets from their partner unless there is a Will.There is also no inheritance tax exemption for cohabitees equivalent to the exemption given to married couples and civil partners.If the cohabitees have children, the father may not automatically have parental responsibility in the event of the mother’s death unless an agreement has been made between them or there has been a Court order granting the father parental responsibility or he has been named as the child’s father on the Birth Certificate.
Cohabiting couples might believe that problems can be averted by owning assets jointly.Unfortunately, couples do not always realise the effect of owning property or investments jointly.A jointly owned house for example can be held as “joint tenants in equity” in which case on the first death the property passes automatically to the surviving co owner.However, if it is held as “tenants in common” the deceased joint owner’s share will not pass automatically to the surviving co-owner. Cohabiting partners need to be clear about what they ultimately want to happen to their assets. For couples who have children from previous relationships this is particularly important if disputes are to be avoided.
Couples living together outside of a formal marriage or civil partnership should make sure that they are fully aware of the limited legal recognition of the status of their relationship and they should seek expert advice on how to avoid potential difficulties.First and foremost they must ensure that they make Wills and keep them regularly updated.
Article produced - August 2008
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