Published on: 12th November 2016

Living together: what if we don't have a Will?

Some couples still don't know that living together doesn't mean they are given any legal status, even if they have children. A common law spouse doesn't exist, meaning that these couples don't have any rights of a married couple if they were to separate.

This also applies to the death of one of them: if no Will is made by either person in the couple leaving their assets to each other, the intestacy rules may result in leaving the other person in a very tight spot.

Anne Steward and Jason Cliff are an example of a couple who have had to deal with the harsh reality of this, just this year. Mr Cliff was separated from his wife, and he had lived with Miss Steward for 16 years in a house they both owned together.

However, Mr Cliff and his wife never divorced and, more importantly, never wrote a Will. Because of this, when he passed away in 2013, his £260,000 share in the house he shared with Ms Steward passed to his wife, under the intestacy rules.

Ms Steward, facing the idea of losing her financial security and her home, made an Inheritance Act claim to gain her partner's share of the home. Despite the claim being contested by Mrs Cliff, the Court ruled in favour of Ms Steward earlier on this year.

This decision, although appealed by Mrs Cliff, has been announced as one of the first of this kind and a step in the right direction for couples who fall in this category. But, though it's a sign of a change in the court's approach, the stress and expense of a long legal battle could have all been dodged if Mr Cliff had written an up to date Will in the first place.

The Cohabitation Rights Bill 2016-17 is in its beginning stages, having its first reading in the House of Lords in June this year. This stage is a formality that begins the starts of a Bill's process through Parliament.

If this Bill is passed, it would provide basic protection for long-term couples living together, applying to couples who have lived together continuously for three years or have children together. It offers more security for unmarried couples, however it could be years until fell legal protection is provided. Therefore, it is vital that unmarried couples ensure that any shared property is correctly owned, and that they have up to date Wills.

For more information on how we write Wills specifically for people in this situation, get in touch.

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