living together v marriage

percytadi

My partner and I have lived together since 1988, yet I understand that we miss out on the rights of those who are married. Would appreciate anyone telling me how we are affected by not having that piece of paper. ???

trafalgar_2

There's a whole thread on this you might like to read.....................might help ;D

http://forum.moneysavingexpert.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=Families;action=display;num=1070439879;start=25#25

lisyloo

There are lots of ways, but if one of you dies without a will then the other is entitled to nothing at all (which possibly means being homeless).

If it is a long term relationship then why not get that piece of paper?

trafalgar_2

Or just get a will

lisyloo

That would solve the one problem I mentioned but would not give any of the other benefits of being married.

For exmaple tax free gifts between spouses, no inheritance tax between spouses etc.

trafalgar_2

Your not suggesting getting married for tax free gifts surely ???


I'm kidding ..fair point ;D

ginger_nuts

Or just get a will

I knew someone who had been married but was separated and living with someone else .
Last year he died from cancer in the home he shared with his new partner. He had a wil made leaving everything to his partner .

His wife got the will overturned and she got everything ,his partner got nowt .

I thinK it was a case of you cant disinherit your wife .

lisyloo

Getting a divorce would have settled that situation.

But yes you are right, if you have dependents (spouse & children) and you don't leave them any provision then they can try and get it changed.

Don't want this to sound like a lecture but as well as the rights you get, marriage comes with responsibilities too.

I don't know anything about the situation you mentioned but perhaps the wife had contributed to his wealth either financially or non-financially through childcare etc.

If he had got divorced then the same problem wouldn't have arisen because he would have settled everything with her and she would have had no claim.

You can't divorce your children though, so if they are under 18 then you still have responsibilities towards them.
You can leave them out of the will but again they could apply to get it overturned.

But it's a good point to bring up because it demonstrates that it isn't a one way street.
You get some good benefits and rights but in return you have some financial responsibilities that you can't just walk away from, in fact it's quite painful as many divorcees will tell you (never been divorced myseld but have family and friends).

trafalgar_2

I knew someone who had been married but was separated and living with someone else .
Last year he died  from cancer in the home he shared with his new partner. He had a wil made leaving everything to his partner .

His wife got the will overturned and she got everything ,his partner got nowt .

I thinK it was a case of you cant disinherit your wife .

Good Point

As Lisyloo says a divorce would sort that out.

16011996

marriage won't last if its only for tax purposes. you both have to want it too, is a huge commitment. (not saying you're not commited, don't tke it the wrong way, pls.)

lisyloo

just to be clear - I was not suggesting getting married purely for tax purposes.

However if you have been together for a long time and one or either or you doesn't want to get married then that would cause alarm bells to start ringing for me.

I can understand why you might not feel the need, but if one of you is scared on commitment grounds then I would be wondering why.