As cohabitation becomes increasingly common in the UK, long-awaited legal reforms could transform the financial and inheritance rights of unmarried couples. For advisers, understanding the implications will be critical in helping clients protect their assets, families and future plans.
Written for IFA Magazine by Emma Spruce, barrister at specialist family law chambers 4PB
There are now 3.5 million couples in the UK living together outside of marriage or civil partnership and in 2022 over half of babies were born to unmarried parents. Given the continually falling marriage rate, this number will only likely increase – the law is, without doubt, behind these societal shifts.
The myth of ‘common law marriage’
In many jurisdictions (such as Australia and some states in the United States), the term ‘common law marriage’ or ‘de-facto relationship’ exists to confer legal rights between couples who live together in a domestic or otherwise committed basis. It is likely that these terms have led to the common misconception that cohabiting couples automatically acquire the same right as married couples or civil partners. In the UK, there are no such protections. In practice, this means that even couples who have, in all but name, lived as a married couple at the end of their relationship (either by separation or by death) will be left without legal protection. Under intestacy rules, cohabitants have no automatic right to inherit from a deceased partner. This reality disproportionately impacts the more vulnerable – the weaker financial party, women (in light of their likelihood to take on caring duties, thereby impacting their financial position), children and commonly: victims of domestic abuse, trapped by their economic situation.
A long-awaited consultation on reform
On 5 June 2026, the Ministry of Justice announced a public consultation entitled ‘A fairer end to relationships’ – which proposes to consult on both divorce and cohabitations. Consideration of reform for cohabitants has rightly been of particular interest given the hard-fought campaign to bring about change.
The proposed reforms, the Government is clear, will only be available to those in ‘committed, romantic relationships who have lived together for at least three years, or will live together and share a child’ – which will, rightfully, excluded those in other types of shared living arrangements such as flat mates. Further, the outcomes produced by the reforms should not lead to a better outcome than had the couple been married. As with divorce, the focus of the new laws should be on ‘fairness’.
What are the proposed reforms?
For separating cohabitants, In simple terms, the government intends, in essence, to bring about legal protections for cohabitants which – broadly – reflects those protections available to married couples. This means that all the powers available on divorce – including property adjustment orders, lump sum orders, pension sharing orders and even maintenance orders will be available. The caveat to this is that Government is clear that the reforms should hold an emphasis on the ‘clean break’ principle such that maintenance orders will made only in limited circumstances.
It is likely that, as in divorce, the proposed new laws for cohabitants, will take into account the couple’s treatment of their assets during the relationship. If there are ‘pre-relationship’ resources, such as family wealth held in trusts or property, it will likely be important for these to remain separate from the couples’ joint finances so that the party who wishes to protect these resources is better placed to assert that they are not resources available to the other party on separation/death. This is a step that would need consideration in light of financial, and legal advice.
The implications for inheritance and financial planning
For cohabitants upon intestacy, as with separating cohabitants – the government proposes that qualifying couples will have the same intestacy rights as married or civil partnership couples.
Financial advisors should continue to advise and stress the importance of clients having a valid will which reflects their wishes on death. This is important for everyone but particularly where individuals have specific and/or complex wishes for their estate including where their wishes do not reflect an automatic transfer of their estate to their cohabiting partner.
The reforms are likely to spark further debates about the status of marriage versus cohabiting couples in society. The fear of complicated and potentially costly legal proceedings in the event of separation, may well invite difficult conversations between couples who would already qualify and those which are approaching the criteria. Importantly, the Government have professed the need for the reforms to include an ‘opt out’ provision – which will remain important for those who have specifically decided not to marry based on a mutual desire to maintain financial independence.
