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Government is urged to reconsider cohabitation rules for unmarried couples

Cohabiting couples are the fastest-growing family type in the UK as 3.6 million couples currently live together and are not married or in a civil partnership.

With this in mind, many experts believe that it is time to bring in new laws regarding cohabiting couples to ensure they have similar rights to married couples when it comes to children, inheritance and finances.

Many couples do not realise that living together does not give them these rights and that in the event of the relationship breaking down, one partner can often be left with very little support.

What can happen when cohabiting couples split?

With no legal recognition of cohabitation, despite the often pedalled myths around ‘common law’ marriage, men and women can be most disadvantaged by the breakdown of a relationship.

The Government are prioritising reforms around marriage and divorce and thus, cohabitation is taking a back seat.

But as the number of cohabiting couples rises every day, is it time for there to be more rights for cohabitation?

Many solicitors believe it needs to be prioritised as so many cohabiting couples believe they have the same rights as married couples.

A survey from 2019 found that 49 per cent of people thought that couples living together were in a ‘common law’ marriage.

Issues that can commonly occur when cohabiting couples end their relationship relate to property and financial support.

Property ownership can become very complicated between cohabiting couples in the event that the relationship ends, especially if the property is only in one partner’s name.

With this in mind, the Government are being urged to reconsider their decision not to look into cohabitation laws.

For advice on cohabitation rights, contact us.