Millions of unmarried couples who live together could be unaware of their rights if the relationship breaks down, a family law group has warned.<\/p>\n
Resolution carried out a survey which found two-thirds of cohabiting couples wrongly believe “common-law marriage” laws exist when dividing up finances.<\/p>\n
The number of unmarried couples living together has more than doubled from 1.5 million in 1996 to 3.3 million in 2017.<\/p>\n
Resolution chairman Nigel Shepherd said current laws were “behind the times”.<\/p>\n
He said: “The government must listen to the public, legal professionals and a growing number of politicians who all agree that we need reform to provide basic rights to cohabiting couples should they separate.”<\/p>\n
Mr Shepherd said “society has changed”, as cohabiting couples have become the fastest-growing family type in the UK.<\/p>\n
He said, under current law, it was possible to live with someone for decades – and have children together – but not take responsibility for the former partner if the relationship breaks down.<\/p>\n
Cohabiting couples can be recognised under Scots Law in some circumstances – and Scottish legislation introduced in 2006 enables a cohabitant to apply to the court for financial provision.<\/p>\n
Source: Citizens Advice<\/p>\n
The ComRes poll of 2,000 UK adults, by Resolution, found 84% of people thought the government should take steps to make sure unmarried cohabiting couples knew they did not have the same legal protection as married couples.<\/p>\n
Of these respondents, 281 people were in a cohabiting relationship – two-thirds of which thought they were common-law married.<\/p>\n
A further four in five cohabitants believed that the legal rights surrounding cohabiting people who separate were “unclear”.<\/p>\n
If they have children, each cohabiting partner will still have the legal rights and responsibilities of a parent.<\/p>\n
Mother-of-five Yvonne, who was with her ex-partner 17 years, said she was “shocked to find out” her legal rights when they ended the relationship.<\/p>\n
“I was entitled to nothing,” she said.<\/p>\n
“I was no longer just dealing with a break-up – but with the fallout of not being legally entitled to share in any of what I thought were our joint assets.”<\/p>\n
Yvonne, who gave up paid work to look after their children, said she now has to move house – but has no independent funds or a pension.<\/p>\n
“I’m devastated to have been left in this situation, and think it’s wrong that the law is unable to provide people like me with any support whatsoever,” she said.<\/p>\n
Resolution, which represents 6,500 family practitioners, said it had seen an increase in the number of cases involving cohabiting couples.<\/p>\n
Some 98% of Resolution members report having worked with a couple who they say they could not help due to the lack of legal protection.<\/p>\n
Source: bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"