Not Legally Married

Mojisola

Errata wrote: »

If wills have been made it's pretty important that the correct names and relationships are written in full, and that appllies to insurance policies and private pensions.

duchy wrote: »

But her name IS Mrs Skinto -by common usage -which is entirely legal (no deed poll needed) the only issues are insurances if it is a spousal benefit on an insurance (all of which I've already said)

If a will says "my wife, Mrs Skinto" and the person known as Mrs Skinto isn't married to him, it could cause problems.

As one of the children is a child of the Mr Skinto and not Mrs Skinto, if he dies first and she doesn't make a will, the step-child will not automatically be able to inherit from her estate.

Torry_Quine

Skinto_7 wrote: »

No they never celebrated a wedding anniversary, think i maybe asked a couple of times and they just said it was their special date and didnt want us fussying so they never told us.

Being a guy i never really thought or wanted to see weddding photos but my wife did ask once, however my folks just said they had a very small wedding with no guests or photographers, which seemed fai;y reasonable to me.

My husband knew when his parents married as did my brother know when our parents married so it definitely isn't a general male thing. Actually my husband's parents had a very small wedding but even they had someone take a couple of pictures.

I can't imagine not at least sending parents a card for their anniversary and most couples have their wedding photo on display.

travelgran

Sorry TQ- married over 40 years, no wedding photographs on display and no cards from anyone, even to each other. That's if we remember it ourselves.
Still definitely married though!

Torry_Quine

travelgran wrote: »

Sorry TQ- married over 40 years, no wedding photographs on display and no cards from anyone, even to each other. That's if we remember it ourselves.
Still definitely married though!

Thanks but I can't imagine not celebrating with my husband with at least a card and if my close family and friends forget I am not happy!

certainly don't mean to imply that if you don't mark the date you aren't married but it's a new one on me.

nickj_2

surely there will be a time when your brother and sister will need their birth certificates , might as well get it out in the open

Flugelhorn

Not sure that a birth cert actually gives it away - I have been married 25 years + but never changed my surname - so the mother's name on kid's birth certs is just my usual name with no previous surname given.

Only way anyone could tell is that I registered the births without DH there - couldn;t have done that unless we were married but it is a point that many would not know

TonyMMM

Flugelhorn wrote: »

Not sure that a birth cert actually gives it away - I have been married 25 years + but never changed my surname - so the mother's name on kid's birth certs is just my usual name with no previous surname given.

Yes it does - even if you keep your name on marriage , a married woman should still have a "maiden" name shown (even though the 2 names will be the same).

Flugelhorn wrote: »

Only way anyone could tell is that I registered the births without DH there - couldn;t have done that unless we were married but it is a point that many would not know

The father can be included on the birth certificate even if not married, and not present - it just means additional paper work is required (usually a statutory declaration)

TBagpuss

Errata wrote: »

If wills have been made it's pretty important that the correct names and relationships are written in full, and that applies to insurance policies and private pensions.

For a will, what's important is that the individuals are clearly identifiable. If the will says "to my wife [name ]" then there would only be an issue if he was still legally married to someone else.

As others have said, your legal name is the name by which you are known. You don;t have to have a deed poll. So if it says "to [married name] that is fine.

However, if they are not married, your mum wouldn't be entitled to widows benefits from your dad's pensions, and there may be issues with any insurance if they claimed to be married when they aren't.

I'd encourage them to consider getting married (reassure them that this can be as public, or as private, as they want) and/or to check whether they need to amend the information on any insurance policies.

Be aware that the rules on Inheritance Tax are different for married and unmarried couples, and if they have assets above the IHT threshold that may affect them.

It's up to them whether they resolve the issues by getting married or not, but it would be sensible to get some advice, and to make sure that their financial arrangements are appropriate if they are not legally married. There is no such thing as 'common law marriage' in England, so regardless of how long they have lived as husband and wife, the don;t have automatic rights.

LeeLoo_2

TBagpuss wrote: »

Be aware that the rules on Inheritance Tax are different for married and unmarried couples, and if they have assets above the IHT threshold that may affect them.

There is no such thing as 'common law marriage' in England, so regardless of how long they have lived as husband and wife, the don;t have automatic rights.

This is what I wanted to say. They may end up having to pay taxes they would not have when inheriting from the surviving 'spouse'.

Ronaldo_Mconaldo

Skinto_7 wrote: »

No they never celebrated a wedding anniversary, think i maybe asked a couple of times and they just said it was their special date and didnt want us fussying so they never told us.

Being a guy i never really thought or wanted to see weddding photos but my wife did ask once, however my folks just said they had a very small wedding with no guests or photographers, which seemed fai;y reasonable to me.

A ring-a-ding-ding. That's the "troll" bell ringing gently there people, can you hear it? So now the OP expects us to believe that nobody in the family ever asked when their parents got married, nobody wondered why they kept the actual wedding event and subsequent anniversary down the years as a giant secret. Next they'll be telling us that the children of this couple don't even know their parent's wedding anniversary date and never bothered to ask