Articles, information and news on many areas of Family Law.
Written by Family Law Solicitor, and Partner, Jo Spain.
You should always consult your professional adviser for legal or other advice to match your unique situation. The materials on this site comprise SpainWilliams llp's views; they do not constitute legal or other professional advice. Please note our disclaimer.
Over the past year or so the media has made much of the new “same-sex marriages”. By March 2006 6,516 same-sex couples had “married” and even celebrities like Elton John have now tied the knot.
So what is this new phenomena and why is it now possible?
Post your commentIf you are cohabiting but are not married then you may be financially vulnerable if it all falls apart.
There is no such thing as a “common law spouse” and you have none of the protection afforded to married couples under matrimonial law. This may come as a surprise (and a worry) especially if you have children.
Post your commentLast month I looked at the myth of the Common Law spouse and the fact that cohabiting couples do not have the same protection as married couples if the relationship breaks down or one of them dies.
So what can you do to protect yourself?
1 commentsMore and more people are choosing to live together without being married. Sometimes they have children together, often they jointly own a house and they may have joint savings or investments.
In fact, currently, 2 million couples live together in Britain without being married*.
But what happens if these relationships break down or if one of the partners dies? Surely the other partner has acquired rights in their property and has a right to make claims through the Courts if they have lived together for 2 years, or 5 years or longer?
This is the myth of the “Common Law Spouse”.
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