Proposed new rights for unmarried couples
Last month, the Ministry of Justice launched a 10-week consultation on proposals that could change the legal rights of unmarried couples in England and Wales. Currently, couples who live together but are unmarried have few legal rights if they separate or if one of them dies without having made a Will.
Under the new proposals, if one partner dies, then the other would be able to inherit their assets in certain circumstances. If they separate, one partner could be entitled to a lump-sum payment from the other.
At the moment, many people believe that cohabiting couples have automatic legal inheritance rights, but this is not the case. There is no such thing as a common-law marriage in England and Wales. If a married person dies without a Will, their estate goes to their spouse, but if an unmarried person dies, the estate passes to their children or, if there are none, to their parents.
Currently, if an unmarried person dies without a Will, their partner can only claim their assets under the Inheritance Act, which can be a slow and expensive process. How much they might receive is limited to what is reasonable for their needs, taking into account their income and assets, the size of the estate and the needs of other beneficiaries.
The government stated the proposed changes will be designed to reflect modern living habits, as many couples are now choosing to marry later or not marry at all. Under the new proposals, if someone dies without a Will, the surviving partner will become the primary beneficiary of their partner’s estate, provided they had lived together for five years, or two years if they have a child together. However, the surviving partner would still have to pay inheritance tax of 40% for anything inherited above £325,000, whereas married partners would be exempt from this.
For these new proposals to apply, the courts will have to rule that the couple were in a “marriage-equivalent” relationship, and the consultation is looking into how this would work, considering factors such as people living together, sharing finances and others perceiving them as a couple.
The open consultation period runs from 5 June to 14 August 2026. After this, the Government will consider the responses and eventually make a new law based on the consultation. In the meantime, if you are an unmarried couple, please consider making a Will.
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If you are unmarried and wish to make a Will or wish to speak to us about what you can do at the moment to protect your interests, contact our family lawyers today on 01492 874774.