Co-habitating rules - help please.

squibbs25

Kezlou that is shocking to read, thank you for sharing it.
Not sure if it makes any difference both children have and have always had contact with their respective fathers.
Child maintanence has been received.

The problem I see is there are no hard and fast rules/proper law for cohabitees like in marriage/divorce,hence why finding guidance is very hard.
It looks like all cases are assessed on an individual basis.

The only other people I know to have split recently we're married with children so it's a completely different scenario.

newbutold

kezlou wrote: »

are you sure as thats what me and my partner are classed as.

I also know other people who were called this and were entitled to bereavement allowance and widows pension when they partners passed away.

By the way i'm not doubting you in any way, as i say i'm no expert.

Well according to directgov.Uk (& plenty of other sites);


There is no such thing as ‘common law marriage’.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/governmentcitizensandrights/yourrightsandresponsibilities/dg_10026937

squibbs25

Funnily enough the only time the expression 'common law' is valid I notice is on anything to do with inland revenue, dhss and the council. So basically anyone you would owe money too.
If for anything else then the expression doesn't exist!!!!!

kezlou

i can honestly say it does depend on the court.

For instance i am not married to my partner but we have been together in a relationship for 13 years, have two children together aged 12 and 8 years old. We have also lived in the same property as each other for the same amount of time.

We are essentially a married couple everything is in OUR name i.e the bills, bank accounts, you name it we are joined at the hip. I even have a TPM on his single account. Its funny because the people at the bank know us so well lol as they used to me going to access both of our accounts.

So i think based on that if we ever did split up, which hopefully we won't, we will probably be classed as common law man and wife.

newbutold

kezlou wrote: »

So i think based on that if we ever did split up, which hopefully we won't, we will probably be classed as common law man and wife.

You cannot be classed as something that does not exist!


Cohabitation - living together
There are over four million couples living together in England and Wales in cohabitation, and they are given legal protection in several areas. However, they and!their families have significantly fewer rights and responsibilities than people who are married or who have formed a civil partnership.

Many people think that, after living with their partner for a!few years, they become 'common law husband and wife' with the same rights as married couples. This is not the case. In fact, couples who live together have hardly any of the same rights as married couples or civil partners.

There is no such thing as ‘common law marriage’.

If you are living together as a couple, there are steps you can take to protect
yourself and your partner. There are also ways to minimise the legal and financial problems which may arise if you decide to separate, or if one of you dies.

You can find out about the current rights of cohabiting couples from Advicenow – an independent website offering information on rights and legal issues. Their ‘Living Together’ campaign is intended to make both opposite and same-sex cohabitants more aware of their legal status. The campaign also provides advice on how to protect yourself and your family, should you wish to do so.


Taken from the direct gov link in my previous post.

newbutold

kezlou wrote: »

i can honestly say it does depend on the court.

For instance i am not married to my partner but we have been together in a relationship for 13 years, have two children together aged 12 and 8 years old. We have also lived in the same property as each other for the same amount of time.

We are essentially a married couple everything is in OUR name i.e the bills, bank accounts, you name it we are joined at the hip. I even have a TPM on his single account. Its funny because the people at the bank know us so well lol as they used to me going to access both of our accounts.

So i think based on that if we ever did split up, which hopefully we
won't, we will probably be classed as common law man and wife.

Also, without being doom & gloom merchant, I hope you both have made a will as again you would not automatically inherit anything from each other, including a house if you jointly own it as tenants in common.

Sorry OP to go off topic, I just wouldn't want anyone else reading to think "oh we are covered as we are common law man & wife", when it's not the case.

Gloomendoom

kezlou wrote: »

i can honestly say it does depend on the court.

For instance i am not married to my partner but we have been together in a relationship for 13 years, have two children together aged 12 and 8 years old. We have also lived in the same property as each other for the same amount of time.

We are essentially a married couple everything is in OUR name i.e the bills, bank accounts, you name it we are joined at the hip. I even have a TPM on his single account. Its funny because the people at the bank know us so well lol as they used to me going to access both of our accounts.

So i think based on that if we ever did split up, which hopefully we won't, we will probably be classed as common law man and wife.

I sincerely hope you never split up but if you do you are likely to get a big shock. If you want the benefits and protection of being married, you need to take that walk down the aisle.

Read this...

Living together - a practical guide to your rights

kezlou

I did say in my original post that i am not an expert AND i did say it depended on certain circumstances if the original posters friends ever went to court.

Trust me i am not living in a dream world and never said that any one who is co-habiting is definitely entitled to certain benefits. I know fine well that if i ever split up from a my partner it would be very hard to prove that we were couple.

I only know from people who i know who went through the courts after they split from they partners and those who suffered from a bereavement. This is the only reason why i replied to the original poster just as a heads up in case her friends ever went to court.

Also i looked through the pdf and certain things have came into place since 2009. Like i say have not seen any documentation and i only know what has happened to other people.

Please let us stick to the original posters question(s) as it is going off topic.

Thank you for the links by the way they are very useful and i would suggest people look and read through them and they are very beneficial.

Constant_Gardener

What others have said: 'Common law spouses- The terms common-law wife or husband are frequently used to describe cohabitees, but the terms are misleading because they suggest that the relationship has legal recognition which has not existed in England and Wales since 1753.'

The OP is describing what appears to be the ex making a claim for 'beneficial interest'. If this happens (she starts court action and is not just making idle threats) the male friend should seek legal advice.

kezlou - do make sure both you and your partner understand the differences between marriage and cohabitation. Plenty of people I know have decided to protect their rights after decades of living together, to protect future interests once they understood this.

Adviceguide / Living together and marriage: legal differences

esmy

Kezlou - can I suggest that you and your partner look into your situation very carefully. My OH and I have lived together, unmarried for nearly 30 years and we have 2 children. We chose not to marry and have taken a number of steps to ensure that either of us would be financially secure if either one of us died or we separate.

We have each made wills, we have nominated each other as the beneficiary of our occupational pensions and life insurances, we both own the house (and there are different ways you can do this). We did all this because there would be no automatic right to each others assets. As other posters have said there is no such thing as a common law marriage.