Millions of unmarried couples to get stronger rights

Over 3.5 million unmarried couples will be given more financial security under a government consultation launching today (Friday 5 June). Designed to shape future law and better reflect modern society, the consultation looks to strengthen rights and make the separation process less financially difficult for cohabiting couples and those who simply choose not to marry. 

The government recognises that due to cost of living pressures, financial security is more important than ever and the current outdated system offers unmarried couples who live together limited financial rights if their relationship ends. For example under our plans, individuals could gain access to a share of a house sale to help secure their financial future.

Separation is already a challenging time, particularly if one person is financially dependent on another. By bringing family law into the modern day, the government’s proposals will help couples, including survivors of domestic abuse, gain financial security and independence at the end of a cohabitating relationship, whatever their marital status.

The consultation will also explore whether courts should give greater weight to the impact of domestic abuse, including controlling or coercive behaviour or economic abuse, when assessing finances for married couples and cohabitants.   

Ensuring bereaved partners are not left in limbo, the consultation will also look at levelling up protections for cohabiting couples by giving automatic rights to inherit if their partner dies without a will.

The government is also proposing making pre-nuptial and post-nuptial agreements legally binding so people who choose to enter one can feel confident their financial wishes will be honoured if they divorce.

Deputy Prime Minister, David Lammy, said   

When a relationship comes to an end, each partner should have the support and certainty they need to rebuild their life. We’re launching this consultation to make sure our new family law builds a fair system that offers the most vulnerable protection in the event of a breakup, and at a time where the country is facing cost of living pressures.

Whether you’ve been left bereaved by the sudden and unexpected death of a partner, or escaped horrific domestic abuse, our laws should work to protect you. 

These reforms strike an important balance between tradition and modernity. I’m determined that our justice system should work for everyone who needs it.

This new framework will offer cohabiting couples a distinct and different set of rights from married couples, helping to preserve the sanctity of marriage. Boosting support for divorcing couples, the consultation will consider how they can resolve financial disputes more easily and fairly, making it clear what each partner can expect when they make financial arrangements. This should help couples reach agreement more easily and swiftly, reducing costs.

Justice Minister Baroness Levitt KC, said    

Financial independence should be afforded to everybody – not just those who choose to marry or enter into a civil partnership.

Too many women who have suffered the horrors of domestic abuse are left destitute at the end of a relationship because they’ve been denied the rights they deserve. The outcome of our consultation will be a system which celebrates choice, autonomy, and tradition in equal measure.

Sam Smethers, CEO of Surviving Economic Abuse, said

This is a once in a generation opportunity to improve protections for victim survivors of domestic abuse, whether they hold a marriage certificate or not. Too often, cohabiting survivors are left with no safe route to separate financially from an abusive partner, forced to abandon their home, savings or financial security just to escape.

It is encouraging that the Government will also explore whether courts should give greater weight to domestic, including economic, abuse when resolving finances. Too many survivors are forced to navigate an outdated legal system that doesn’t consider the impact of these harms and is often weaponised by abusers to continue coercive control from afar.

“As reforms are developed, it is vital that the Government works closely with victim survivors – especially those most marginalised from the justice system – to ensure the new protections recognise the devastating impact of economic abuse and genuinely meet all survivors’ needs.”

 Melanie Bataillard-Samuel, Chair of Resolution, said

For too long, unmarried partners have been placed at risk of significant financial hardship and uncertainty when their relationship comes to an end through separation or death. The current law has simply not kept pace with changes in society, and often enables perpetrators of domestic abuse to continue that abuse after a relationship has ended.

Today’s announcement is a welcome and significant step towards ending the endemic unfairness for cohabiting couples that Resolution’s 6,500 members see day in, day out. We look forward to these reforms being implemented to create a system that is fit for modern society.

Further information   

• The consultation will launch on June 5 and run for 10 weeks, closing on August 14. The government will invite views from the public, legal professionals, academics, charities and other stakeholders over the consultation period. 
• The consultation is open here (A fairer end to relationships – GOV.UK
• The government is proposing cohabitants should have lived together for at least three years or share a child to access the framework. Courts must also be satisfied couples are in an enduring family relationship.
• The government will consider the findings of the consultation carefully before finalising policy. Finalised reforms will then take place when parliamentary time allows.