What rights is the government proposing for co-habiting couples?
The Ministry of Justice consultations also recommend stronger financial rights for cohabiting couples if they separate; Couples are considered to have these rights if they have lived together for at least three years or have children together.
Edwards says the rights won’t be as comprehensive as those for married couples and aren’t about sharing resources. Instead, a lump sum, property transfer or pension share may be given to a partner, but only if necessary to meet basic needs, he says.
Edwards believes the proposed changes would be “transformative” for people who have experienced domestic violence or coercive and controlling behavior who might not otherwise be able to afford to leave the relationship.
“We’re really pleased to see this consultation,” says Sam Smethers, chief executive of the charity Surviving Economic Abuse, which campaigns for reform of cohabitation laws.
He says that under the current system, cohabiting people who are subjected to economic abuse must “move away from their homes, away from their savings, away from their financial security, just to escape the abuse.” He says legal remedies for them to gain access to their property after separation are “very expensive and difficult to pursue” and they are often unsuccessful in making claims.
Couples will be able to mutually opt out of the proposed new rights as long as they meet certain safeguards, such as seeking independent legal advice and disclosing their financial situation to their partner.
Edwards says he thinks an opt-out system is the right way forward. “Too many people now realize too late that they have no rights at the end of a relationship,” he says.
Some critics of the proposal say they chose not to marry because they wanted to keep finances completely separate. “This was a conscious decision,” one person wrote Mumsnet, external. “An opt-out plan reverses this default and allows us to go through the hard work to preserve it.”
Others say there are issues not included in current proposals that they want the government to address. Selina Flavius, of the charity Widow and Young, says she would love to have the legal right to be involved in funeral planning as well as death support payments after her fiancee dies.
