Marriage v. co-habiting

hrafndot

Can anyone put in a nutshell what the advantages are of marriage versus co-habiting in the event that anything happened to either partner.

Kimberley

If you live with someone without getting married at least you can just chuck them out without the mess of a divorce

hrafndot

I wouldn't dream of chucking him out, he does all the cooking!

loopylass

yes but could you chuck him out if you are both buying the house lol
:rotfl:
Then it gets a bit more complicated i think lol

But i do agree they do have their uses:rotfl:

hrafndot

I'm quite old and have been asked to marry someone I have been with for 6 years. I haven't got a clue, that's why I posted in the first place!! lol

Emms

Weve been living together for about 5 years ( kinda lost count a bit ). Weve been engaged for the same time and we have recently decided to get married next year. Its just a natural progression for us really

Emma

Spendless

I'm no expert but I think that it is better being married from an inheritance tax angle (you could ask on the tax board for more clarification cos I might be totally barking up wrong tree).
Some years ago I know the company I worked for didn't recognise a womans live in partner as her next of kin for her company life assurance with them and possibly her pension too- but this is years ago and that might have changed since.
We did get a question on here the other day asking about a 'legal' next of kin too.
But get married cos it's what you both want regardless of advantages/disadvantages. All the best to you both :beer:

Dora_the_Explorer_5

hrafndot wrote:

You lost me there Dora. I didn't post to attract veiled (if confusing) criticism so I think I will slink backto the murk.

My apologies, I had no intention of being either overtly or covertly critical. Just posted a disadvantage as I saw it. I'll delete my post.

fiobee

hrafndot wrote:

I'm quite old and have been asked to marry someone I have been with for 6 years. I haven't got a clue, that's why I posted in the first place!! lol

I'm not asking - but it possibly depends on how old you are. If you (or he) are concerned about the future, you can set up power of attorney (for when you can't make necessary decisions yourselves), put the house or other assets in joint ownership (so the survivour automatically receives it), get a will drawn up (so you know the survivour is taken care of), etc. You can do all these things without getting married.

Or, perhaps you may be concerned about a claim on your assets in the sad event of a divorce (perhaps you have kids, grown up or otherwise). In which case, getting married need not adversely affect them - you can get a pre-nup and a will drawn up so they will still inherit the same things.

Finally, if you have been happy together for six years and see the future continuing the same way, I see no reason not to get married. I am sure it will only increase your happiness.

hrafndot

Thanks, all of you for your contributions. I will look into the inheritance tax aspect which will probably be worth understanding. Sorry if I was a bit sharp Dora.

margaretclare

hrafndot wrote:

I'm quite old and have been asked to marry someone I have been with for 6 years. I haven't got a clue, that's why I posted in the first place!! lol

Quite old - how old is that?

FWIW my DH moved in with me in 1997, got divorced in 1999, we got married in 2002. We were then in our mid-sixties - I was 66 and he was 67.

From a purely mercenary point of view, being married gave him an interest in this property (it's a 2-bedroom bungalow). Up to then he would only have been regarded as a 'lodger'. We did equity release the following year, that was to pay off the existing mortgage, and we took the opportunity to put the deeds into joint names. He's done a lot of work here, put a lot into this place, not only painting and decorating etc, but he worked until his 67th birthday and we share all costs etc.

Because we're married we're able to inherit each other's SERPS (now S2P). Whichever of us dies first will inherit the other's SERPS.

From my point of view, however, none of that mattered. I wasn't happy 'living over t'brush'. We're churchgoers and being properly married in the sight of God was something that mattered to us - mattered to me more than to him, I think. It took him a long time to come round to the idea of another wedding after his second divorce (I was a widow) but when he did, it was for 'all the right reasons' as he put it. And we've been happy ever since.

Margaret Clare