The government has confirmed that it will not consider a reform of cohabitation law in this term of parliament, despite recommendations from the Law Commission. Currently, many people mistakenly believe that by living together they become ‘common law spouses’ and have the same rights as married couples which is not the case.
The Commission proposed that although cohabitants would not be given the same rights as married couples or civil partners, remedies should be available to certain co-habitants, such as those who had a child together or lived together for a minimum period (to be decided by Parliament). Any suggested remedy would be based solely on contributions to the relationship and couples would be given the freedom to opt out of the scheme. Until such a scheme of remedies is considered by the government, co-habitants can enter into wills and co-habitation agreements in order to regulate their rights.
Do you think that co-habitants should be entitled to further remedies under a new scheme, even one that can be opted out of? Or should financial obligations towards each other only occur in marriages and civil partnerships?
