According to the UK government, 3.5 million couples are cohabiting despite not being married or civil partnered, and this number has more than doubled over the past three decades.
Consequently, the government recently launched a review of cohabitation laws and the rights that these couples have. Your adult children and grandchildren, or even you, could be affected by any revision to the law.
Read on to learn about the current legislation and what could change.
Cohabitees don’t enjoy the same inheritance rights as married or civil partnered couples
It’s a misconception that couples who live together are in a “common law marriage” and have the same rights as those who are married or in a civil partnership.
This isn’t true, and the estates of cohabiting couples are treated very differently when one of them passes away.
Naturally, you will need a will to outline your wishes and choose who inherits what from your estate when you pass away. However, if you don’t have a will, your estate is divided according to the laws of intestacy.
How the court decides to administer your estate depends on whether you’re married or not.
If you’re married or in a civil partnership
Your spouse or civil partner will likely inherit a large portion of your estate.
If the estate is worth less than £322,000, they will automatically inherit everything.
However, if the estate is worth more:
- Your spouse or civil partner inherits the first £322,000, plus half of the remaining estate and all your personal possessions.
- The remainder of your estate is divided equally among your children.
This means that, even if you don’t have a will, your partner will receive most of your estate. That said, it’s still important to have a will because the rules of intestacy might not align with your wishes.
If you’re cohabiting
The same rules don’t apply if you’re cohabiting, meaning your partner doesn’t have any legal right to inherit from your estate.
Instead, your estate will pass to children, if you have any, or other family members. This could mean that your partner is missed out altogether, no matter how long you’ve been together.
Unmarried couples have limited abilities to make financial claims on separation
If you’re married or in a civil partnership, you have a legal right to part of your partner’s estate when you divorce or dissolve the civil partnership. Most assets, regardless of who originally owned them, go into a matrimonial pot which is divided on separation.
Unmarried couples don’t enjoy the same rights, regardless of how long they’ve lived together. This means that if a couple lives in a property with only one person’s name on the deeds, that person takes sole ownership.
In some cases, a person can argue they have a “beneficial interest” if they contributed financially or explicitly discussed joint ownership with their partner, for example. However, they would need to prove this in court to be awarded a share of the property.
The lack of legal protection for cohabiting couples means that many people face financial difficulties when a relationship ends. Women and children, especially those leaving an abusive relationship, are particularly vulnerable here.
The cohabitation consultation proposed several crucial changes to the law
Qualifying cohabiting couples should have separation rights
One key recommendation is that certain cohabiting couples have separation rights matching those who are married or in a civil partnership.
To qualify, the couple would need to have been living together for a minimum period (potentially three years). They may also need to have a child together.
While this does offer vital protection for people in relationships, you may need to consider how the change would affect your family, and decisions you make about estate planning.
For instance, you might gift wealth to an adult child who is cohabiting with a partner. Currently, their partner won’t have any financial claim to the wealth you pass on. But if the recommended rules come into effect, a portion of the wealth you gave to your children might end up with their partner, should the relationship break down.
You may need to consider this possibility when making decisions about lifetime gifting.
Unmarried partners should have inheritance rights
The consultation also proposed that cohabiting couples who meet the eligibility criteria should have inheritance rights.
This would mean that, should somebody pass away without a will, their partner may inherit a portion of their estate according to the rules of intestacy.
Having a robust estate plan is just as important as ever, despite any changes to the law
The changes outlined above are only a few of the recommendations from the cohabitation consultation.
Should the government enact these changes, cohabiting couples may have more protection if they don’t have a will.
However, leaving it up to the courts to decide how to divide your estate when you pass away could mean your wishes aren’t fulfilled and certain family members are overlooked.
As such, it’s as important as ever that you have a clear estate plan in place, despite any changes to the law.
More importantly, if you’re passing wealth to your adult children or grandchildren during your lifetime, their partners may have a greater claim to a portion of that wealth should the relationship break down.
It’s important to factor this into your estate planning and decide whether you want to risk having a portion of your wealth removed from the family.
Get in touch
We can help you decide on the most effective ways to pass wealth to your beneficiaries as legislation changes.
Please give us a call on 01276 855717 or email info@braywealth.com today.
Please note
This article is for general information only and does not constitute advice. The information is aimed at individuals only.
All information is correct at the time of writing and is subject to change in the future.
Will writing is a referral service.
Wills and estate planning are not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
Approved by the Openwork Partnership on 08/07/2026
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