15
ISSUES: Marriage
Chapter 1: Marriage
receive is dealt with as tax efficiently
as possible, particularly if they remain
UK resident. For example, they may
wish to seek advice on their existing
planning arrangements, which most
likely would need updating, as well as
seeking advice on the tax efficiency of
their arrangements.”
Prenups may form part of an estate
plan but it’s important to remember
that they are not a substitute for one.
They cannot be used as an alternative
for a will and, even if a couple has
entered into a prenuptial agreement,
each partner should ensure that they
still invest in a legally binding will in
order to protect their personal wealth.
Choosing to take out a prenuptial
agreement doesn’t need to be costly
in both time and money. With the
right guidance, it can serve as an all-
important sense of financial security,
for all parties involved.
14 April 2016
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The above information is reprinted
with
kind
permission
from
Keystone Law. Please visit www.
keystonelaw.co.uk
for
further
information.
© Keystone Law 2017
Common-law marriage
Understanding the myth of common-law marriage.
C
ontrary to popular belief, there
is no such thing as a ‘common-
law marriage’. In England and
Wales only people who are married,
whether of the same sex or not, or
those in civil partnerships can rely on
the laws about dividing up finances
when they divorce or dissolve their
marriage.
The assumption by many unmarried
couples in a long-standing relationship
that they have acquired rights similar
to those of married couples is wrong.
This common misconception needs to
be addressed, particularly as for many
years official statistics show numbers
of marriages in decline as more people
choose to cohabit (living together
without being married).
Many people also believe that by
having a child together they acquire
legal rights, whether married, in a civil
partnership, or not. This is also not
true. Although there is scope to apply
to court for financial provision when
there are children, such orders are
made for the benefit of the child and
only couples who are married or in a
civil partnership acquire legal rights
and responsibilities in relation to each
other.
Your rights if you split up
For couples who are not married or
in a civil partnership, if you split up
your partner would not (except in
certain types of cases) have to pay
you maintenance even if you stayed
at home to look after your children –
but they would still have to pay child
maintenance.
For couples who rented together, if
you were not named on the rental
agreement you will have no automatic
right to stay if they walk out or ask
you to leave and you would be left to
apply to court for an order giving the
right to occupy, the outcome of which
is uncertain. If your ex-partner owned
your home, and there is no other
agreement in place, you have no right
to stay if they ask you to leave.
Similarly, if you are not married or
in a civil partnership, any savings or
possessions your ex acquired out of
their own money will not be shared
with you although lump sum orders
can be made in certain circumstances
in proceedings where there are
children.
To protect yourself if anything
happens, you could consider entering
into a contract with your partner to
decide how money and property
should be divided if you separate.
These are known as ‘Cohabitation
Contracts’ or ‘agreements’ and can be
drafted by a solicitor.
If your partner dies
If your partner dies and you were not
married or in a civil partnership, and
they haven’t made a will, you have
no automatic entitlement to inherit
anything from them, including your
family home, even if it’s in their name
or if you own it jointly as ‘tenants in
common’. You would be left to make
an application to court for provision
from the estate as a dependent; these
applications are uncertain and costly.
You are also not entitled to any
state bereavement benefit or a state
pension based on a percentage of your
ex’s national insurance contributions,
even if you stayed at home to care
for children and depended on your
partner’s income.
Rights for cohabiting couples in
Scotland
The issue of unmarried couples
misunderstanding their rights has
already created a divide in the UK
as since 2006 those who cohabit in
Scotland have certain protections. The
Scottish Parliament took the step to
update Scottish law to reflect the way
families choose to live and to ensure
that any rights that already existed for
cohabiting couples but were restricted
to opposite sex couples only should
be extended to include same-sex
couples. The 2006 Act also provides
a set of basic rights for cohabitants
in Scotland whose relationship ends
covering:
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the sharing of household goods,
bought during the time the
