Unmarried Couples Avoiding the Legal Minefield
Our factsheet on Pre Nuptial Agreements provides plain English advice for couples thinking of getting married but wanting to protect their personal assets.
Many couples believe that they will get some form of protection from the law after a time.
With increasing numbers of people choosing to live together Woolley & Co stress the importance of understanding your legal status as a couple.
Most family lawyers have had clients say to them “But I’m entitled - we’ve lived together for more than 6 months.”
Although not terribly romantic Woolley & Co has some advice for couples thinking of choosing to live together:
- Make a will
- Take advice on the way to own the house.
- Sign a straightforward, plain English Living Together Agreement
(you might think this is unromantic, but a marriage ceremony is a contract, too!)
Making a will
Many unmarried couples believe that they will inherit from their partner on that partner’s death - this is not so even if they have lived together for many, many years. Indeed the surviving partner is not even able to administer their partner’s “estate” (if there is no will), as they have to be a relative. All of this can cause great upset and is easily avoided.
Without a will, when a partner dies their estate goes to their nearest relatives - for example their children, siblings or parents and even to the government but NOT to their partner.
So, a will should be made for both partners. Perhaps it should be similar. It can always be cancelled or amended if the relationship changes.
Click here for information on our fixed fee living together agreement
Owning the house - joint tenants or tenants in common?
Don’t worry about the use of the word “tenant”. It’s got an historical reason and is the right term when you own the house. When you buy a house, especially with a partner it’s important to decide in which way you will own it.
If you own it as joint tenants then on the death of the first partner it automatically passes to the survivor no matter what any will says and no matter who paid what and no matter what anybody says. It is normal for married couples to own the house in this way.
If you buy it as tenants in common, then you will need to state in what shares you own it. That might well be 50/50 but if one partner contributes, say 75% of the purchase price maybe it would be fair for them to be entitled to 75% on sale. If the mortgage is being paid in different shares (due to differing income) decide whether you wish to reflect that. If you do not state a share then it is 50/50.
This share goes wherever any will made says it should - maybe to the surviving partner. But it does not pass automatically to them.
This is a complex decision and best made with professional advice.
Children and living together
Many people are shocked and hurt to find that if parents are unmarried it is only the mother who has automatic “rights” with regard to any of their children. Only the mother will have the right called “parental responsibility” which includes rights to choose education, where they live and so on.
A father can only get this if the two of them make an agreement called a “parental responsibility agreement” or by Court Order. Without parental responsibility, a father has no right, for instance to consent to medical treatment or be involved in the child’s education.
So, if the couple split up the mother automatically has the right to have the children with her where she wishes and the father has no say at all (unless he has an Agreement or Court Order).
The father can apply for a Court Order with regard to seeing the children regularly “a contact order” or that they live with him “residence order” or that he shares the rights “parental responsibility”. How much better for all concerned if this is dealt with early, by an Agreement?
Woolley & Co specialise in giving advice in plain English. Contact us if you need help with:
For a fixed fee consultation Click through to our advice section to book an initial telephone or email consultation.
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