A warning for all you unmarried couples out there!

Keep_pedalling

It seems that the majority of people in long term partnerships who have not formalised that relationship though marriage or a civil partnership are living in ignorance of what sort of financial mess they could leave their loved ones in the event of their death.

Less than 50% of these couples have put wills in place and even fewer have LPAs in place which could leave their partners in serious financial distress if they die or lose mental capacity through accident or illness. So for goodness sake people get your act together and sort both those things out.

That may still not be enough if you have significant assets that will attract IHT because you don’t have spousal exemption available to your estate To see what sort of mess this could leave behind you, have a look at this thread.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81729628#Comment_81729628

MattMattMattUK

The general public are ignorant, hardly surprising.

Silvertabby

Plus, although most pension schemes now pay survivor's benefits to eligible co-habiting partners, the rule change wasn't made retrospective. Always check. 

And "common law spouse" means naff all.  A conversation I had more than once in my LGPS days.  

DavidT67

Even married couple would be well advised to make wills and setup powers of attorney.  

Plenty of married couples are just as disorganised and blissfully unaware as cohabiting persons.

RAS

Agreeing with DavidT67.

If your property and assets are worth more than £322k, and die without a will, your spouse does NOT "inherit everything anyway".

And there are circumstances in which another beneficiary (child, grandchild etc) will not be allowed to agree to forego their inheritance without being penalised. 

So protect them all by making a will.

And if you have a pension, make sure the nomination form is up to date, please.

Savvy_Sue

Sadly, despite much 'banging on' about this over the years, people remain ignorant. 

It was none of my business, but I used to check my colleagues in informal relationships were aware of the dangers of not having legal arrangements in place, especially once they had children.

Lorian

Also worth remembering existing wills are revoked on marriage.

gwynlas

Yes it appears to be the norm that people will live together and have a number of children whilst declaring that they cannot afford to get married when what they mean is they cannot afford £10-20K on having a party beyond their means.
They could save all that money that goes on wedding and bridesmaids dresses, matching suits for the groom and ushers carriages and canapes and put it towards something with more permanence.

Keep_pedalling

gwynlas said:

Yes it appears to be the norm that people will live together and have a number of children whilst declaring that they cannot afford to get married when what they mean is they cannot afford £10-20K on having a party beyond their means.
They could save all that money that goes on wedding and bridesmaids dresses, matching suits for the groom and ushers carriages and canapes and put it towards something with more permanence.

A registry office wedding or CP costs less the £200. 

BungalowBel

I have seen people spend a small fortune on having legal documents drawn up with their co-habiting partner, so that they will be protected upon death.

It would have been so much cheaper  and  more straightforward just to get married or civil partnered..

lordmountararat

Lorian said:

Also worth remembering existing wills are revoked on marriage.

And divorce.