The $30 million safety net for cohabiting couples

The UK government has announced plans to update the laws around cohabitation and create a safety net for couples who split up or where one person survives their partner. The new laws will give unmarried partners an automatic right to inheritance if a partner dies without a will, and will also provide greater rights and protections for cohabiting couples in cases of separation or death.

According to the UK government, about seven million unmarried people in the UK are cohabiting, the highest level since records began in 1994. And more children are now born to unmarried couples, with 51 per cent born out of wedlock, official figures show.

Why 4,000 unsold units became the prize

At present, simply living together gives you no status or financial claim in the eyes of the law. You can share bills, have been together for decades and even have children together, but if the relationship breaks down or one partner dies, the other person can be left with nothing.

Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy said: 'Young people are putting off marriage because on average it costs £20,000, which is a lot of money. It's important we give cohabiting couples rights.'

An echo of Sydney's 2024 institutional buy-up

Cohabiting partners are not automatically entitled to any of their partner's property, financial assets or belongings if they die intestate, unless they can be shown to be jointly owned. They do have the legal right to claim against their partner's estate if they've been cohabiting for more than two years.

However, this could be protracted, stressful and expensive , particularly if the deceased had blood relatives who would otherwise stand to inherit.

Who is the unnamed buyer?

The Government has suggested that the new laws will give partners who are splitting up access to a share in the sale of a house, even where it is owned in one person's name. The Government has suggested that this would only apply to couples that have been together for longer than three years or those who share children.

Speaking on the podcast of our website This Is Money, Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy said: 'It's important we give cohabiting couples rights.'

Tehran's two-track response

One of the key changes to the law would be to give partners who are splitting up access to a share in the sale of a house, even where it is owned in one person's name. The Government has suggested that this would only apply to couples that have been together for longer than three years or those who share children.

Stephanie Patrick, chief executive of the charity Way, Widowed and Young, says : 'Recognising unmarried partners in inheritance law is a long-overdue acknowledgement of the reality of modern relationships.'

Sital Fontenelle, of law firm Kingsley Napley, who has campaigned for law reform in this area, says: 'It is no longer tenable to say parties wanting protection should get married, because with declining rates of marriage - especially among younger couples - many are losing out.'