Civil partnership pros and cons

trailingspouse

My partner has just been diagnosed with cancer. He is wanting to get his affairs in order, just in case the outcome is a poor one - and I think that's a very sensible thing to do. However - as part of that he wants us to have a civil partnership. We've both been married twice before, and I have to confess I'm not sure that I want to go down that route again. He's 72, I'm 64.

We both own our own houses (we're both mortgage free) and have our own pensions etc. He wants to make sure that I'll get his pension should the worst happen - it's very kind of him, but I'm financially well off and don't need or expect anything from him.

What should I be thinking about before I enter into this level of commitment? I was quite happy just being my own independent self and enjoying his company!!

swingaloo

Do you live together or each of you in separate houses? 
Do either of you have children?

Do you have wills at the moment?

Keep_pedalling

Is he planning to leave some of his estate to you? If yes, is it worth more than £325k?

DullGreyGuy

trailingspouse said:

My partner has just been diagnosed with cancer. He is wanting to get his affairs in order, just in case the outcome is a poor one - and I think that's a very sensible thing to do. However - as part of that he wants us to have a civil partnership. We've both been married twice before, and I have to confess I'm not sure that I want to go down that route again. He's 72, I'm 64.

We both own our own houses (we're both mortgage free) and have our own pensions etc. He wants to make sure that I'll get his pension should the worst happen - it's very kind of him, but I'm financially well off and don't need or expect anything from him.

What should I be thinking about before I enter into this level of commitment? I was quite happy just being my own independent self and enjoying his company!!

The main pros are around inheritance tax, pensions and to some degree of being next of kin if he is not fit to make decisions. The later can be dealt with better with a power of attorney but that obviously can't be done in hours if he collapses in the street. 

Is IHT going to be a thing? Does he have a will? Does he intend to leave you anything?


The main con is if his cancer ends up being a good result and after his scrape with death he decides he'd rather a 30 year old girlfriend for his last few years than a 64 year old one and you split. Obviously being married/partnered you then have the division of assets to resolve which may or may not be problematic depending on how you each take it and roughly how equal your worth is. 


Particularly if he has an annuity many feel aggrieved that if they die the insurance company "keeps the money", it's like they assume thats what pays for the Xmas party. In reality insurance premiums are pooled and those that die young effectively cross fund those that live to 110. 

trailingspouse

Thanks all. We don't live together, but he's either at mine or I'm at his, if that makes sense. We both currently have wills, and currently neither of us is leaving anything to the other - his assets will go to his three children, mine will go to my two. If he did change his will to leave me anything other than the pension mentioned in my original post, it wouldn't be anywhere near the IHT limit.

We've discussed LPAs, and he is intending to do those as well (I already have mine sorted, with my son as the attorney).

Financially, my house is worth more than his, and I have more in savings, but he has a better pension than me. I want to protect myself, not because I don't trust him, but because I've worked hard to get where I am despite two divorces, and I don't want to lose my financial independence. I swore to myself when husband #2 walked away that I would never allow anyone to take my independence away from me again. So I guess my question is - what have I got to lose by entering into a civil partnership? Sounds a bit hard hearted, but I've been round the block too often to be all rose-tinted glasses about it!

mebu60

Pensions benefits don't go in wills (despite my protestations that I wanted clarity on and reinforcement of my desire for my partner to benefit from the widow's pension should I die first). 

Pension benefits are determined by the trustees of the pension fund. Has he filled out an instruction to the trustees naming you as his beneficiary? If it's an 'expression of wishes' that is not necessarily binding but you would hope they'd do as requested.

If the widow's pension is the sole reason for considering a civil partnership the above should render that unnecessary. If you do tie the knot then his current will will likely become invalid. 

DullGreyGuy

As already mentioned, that if it didnt work out, that your assets are divided when you divorce is the main one. 

Dont have enough knowledge on wills to say if it could create a problem were you to have poorly drafted/unenforcable/ lost wills and therefore some consideration was given to intestate inheritance but thats probably more of an outside risk (or a none risk for someone who knows more about the law). I would assume that the wills would need to be redone as they are normally invalidated by marriage (inc civil partnership)

Keep_pedalling

It sounds like there are no advantages for you to do this bearing in mind you are not interested in his pension. Do you know what sort of pension this is? If it a defined benefits pension with no surviving spouse it will die with him but even if you did form a CP the trustees may not pay out to a recently formed non cohabiting partnership. 

mebu60

Keep_pedalling said:

It sounds like there are no advantages for you to do this bearing in mind you are not interested in his pension. Do you know what sort of pension this is? If it a defined benefits pension with no surviving spouse it will die with him but even if you did form a CP the trustees may not pay out to a recently formed non cohabiting partnership. 

No! Mine is DB but I have instructed trustees to pay widow's benefit to my non-cohabiting partner of 15 years and counting. As OP is within 10 years of his age there should be no reduction in the widow's benefit either. As he is 72 I'm rather assuming it's in payment. 

trailingspouse

Thanks again. As civil partners, there is no automatic inheritance of assets (that's one of the ways it differs to marriage) - so I wouldn't automatically get his house and he wouldn't get mine. Only if the house (or, say, current account) were in our joint names would either of us inherit from the other.

I'll get him to check re his pension to make sure I'm named as his beneficiary. As mebu60 said, if that's the only reason for getting 'partnered' then it's easily sorted without going that far.

p00hsticks

mebu60 said:

Keep_pedalling said:

It sounds like there are no advantages for you to do this bearing in mind you are not interested in his pension. Do you know what sort of pension this is? If it a defined benefits pension with no surviving spouse it will die with him but even if you did form a CP the trustees may not pay out to a recently formed non cohabiting partnership. 

No! Mine is DB but I have instructed trustees to pay widow's benefit to my non-cohabiting partner of 15 years and counting. As OP is within 10 years of his age there should be no reduction in the widow's benefit either. As he is 72 I'm rather assuming it's in payment. 

I think it very much depends on the terms of the individual DB scheme - there's no hard and fast rule.

I am aware of some where a survivors pension is payable only to legal spouse, civil partner and children still in full time education. 

I'm aware of others (specifically the civil service) where they do recognise unmarried partners providing that the employee has completed the necessary paperwork to say that they wish them to be treated as such.