Any downsides to not getting married?

Angry_Bear

I've been with my OH for a long time now and neither of us are interested in getting married.
However, we recently bought a house and finally did all the things we've been meaning to do for a while (made wills, made sure we're named as beneficiaries on each others insurances and so on). Naturally we're wondering what we might have missed and if there are any benefits to being married that we can't mitigate?

londonsurrey

There is no inheritance tax on assets passed from one spouse to the other if one predeceases the other.

Also you're not automatically recognised as each other's next of kin for medical purposes, etc.

lika_86

A right to pull the plug?

lazer

Have you sorted next of kin?

If anythign happend to either of you, the other would not have the right to say don't switch of the machine, please donate her organs etc?

Do you have any plans to have children - the father does not automatically get parental responsibility unless married. (you would have to register the birth together)

Also for tax reasons it is often beneficial to be married - inheritance tax etc. You can plan an estate to get the same potential benefits - but it is usually cheaper to get married!

j.e.j.

I'm not 100% sure about this but there may also be tax benefits to being married. It's the sort of thing the Tories like to encourage, lol

RAS

What arrangements have you made in the eventually of a relationship breakdown?

Possibly one of the biggest source of distress on the housing forum. If you marry then you have automoatic recourse to legal rules and the divorce courts.

The unmarried often get in a ginormous mess instead.

lazer

Read this it tells of the differences in different situations

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/relationships_e/relationships_living_together_marriage_and_civil_partnership_e/living_together_and_marriage_legal_differences.htm

One i didn't know was that you cannot be forced to be a witness for the prosecution for any criminal case against your spouse
(Probably unlikely for most people anyway - but you never know!)

bugslet

27 years and not married and not found a reason to tie the knot either.

As RAS says, do sort out such things as the house in case of a relationship breakup; we had a wobble once and whilst I was sitting pretty, it might not have been pleasant for Mr bugslet had we not kissed and made up.

We also put into place a Lasting Power of Atorney to cover making financial and health decisions in the event of one of us no longer having the mental capacity to look after ourselves. Unfortunately I've found out how useful that is in the last couple of months and it was well worth the costs. I believe you can do it yourself to cut the costs down, but I was quite happy to pay for a solicitor to do it and not worry that some i was not dotted.

Lovelyjoolz

I'm in the same situation and I often wonder what we've missed.

Following the death of OH's mum this year, one thing that worries me is our joint bank account. We have both retained our personal bank accounts, but we have joint savings and a joint current account from which the mortgage, bills and food payments come. In the event of one of us dying, I believe that the joint accounts would be frozen until Probate was completed, in which case, I've no idea how the bills would get paid.

I haven't looked into this thoroughly yet, but could this be an issue for you?

System

Next of kin in case one of you are ill. My Auntie is going through this at the moment as her friend and carer is very ill. He has no family and she is the only person who cares enough about him to want to know how he is doing medically.

The hospital wont tell her much.

Lovelyjoolz

Oh and while there's no tax benefit (other than inheritance tax) to being married at the moment, Iain Duncan Smith is supposed to be introducing something next year. Might only be about £100 tho!