STEP, the professional body for inheritance and trust advisors, has highlighted the need for unmarried couples to make wills.
Earlier in August, the UK government’s Office for National Statistics published the latest figures on families and households for 2018. The report revealed that the number of cohabiting couple families continues to grow faster than married couple and lone parent families, with an increase of 25.8 per cent over the decade 2008 to 2018.
Hilary Hughes, a partner with Hughes Solicitors and a committee member of the Sussex Branch of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP), said:
‘We still find that many people believe they have legal rights under a ‘common-law marriage’ if they have lived together in a long-term relationship. But this ‘common-law marriage’ is a myth and only couples who are married or in a civil partnership have legal rights and responsibilities which enforce a lifelong commitment to each other.’
The vows which are exchanged in a marriage or civil partnership ceremony create a verbal contract, which is recognised by the law of England and Wales or Northern Ireland, and you can rely on this to pass money and assets to each other if one of you dies.
If you are in a long-term relationship and do not wish to marry or enter a civil partnership, then it is vitally important that you make a will. Without a will assets have to be distributed according to intestacy rules, which might mean that a relative benefits from your estate when you thought that your partner would be provided for.
For further information on making a will, please contact Hilary Hughes in our private client team in Heathfield, East Sussex on 01435 890 101 or email hilaryhughes@hugheslaw.co.uk.
This article is for general information purposes only and does not constitute legal or professional advice. Please note that the law may have changed since the date this article was published.