‘Tackling the common-law marriage myth’

A woman recently came to my constituency surgery and described her difficulties after the death of her long-term partner, a veteran. She has no entitlement to his pension. The armed forces pension scheme was changed to recognise cohabitation in 2003, but her partner served before then. She has found it impossible to wind up his company and receive her rightful redundancy pay. 

Many of the 3.5 million cohabiting couples in the UK believe they have some legal protection as ‘common law marriage’.  Common-law marriage is a myth. And often, the stark inequality between cohabiting and married couples only becomes apparent when the relationship ends. Women who thought they had rights can be thrown into destitution on illness, separation or death.

The government consultation this summer ‘A fairer end to relationships’ focused on financial reforms around divorce, cohabitation and inheritance. It is right to look at this issue, as it affects an increasing number of adults and their children; in 2021, more babies were born to unmarried couples (51%) than married couples. 

Currently, the law fails to recognise non-financial contributions within unmarried couples. Women can be disproportionately vulnerable at the end of relationships due to lower earnings, greater unpaid care responsibilities and larger pension gaps. In the event of death, blood relatives of the deceased (including children from the same or different partners) have more rights to the person’s assets than their long-term cohabitee. 

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The government’s consultation should be seen in the context of its manifesto pledge to halve violence against women and girls. Women are more likely to experience domestic abuse, including economic abuse. It is vital that those leaving abusive relationships are supported by the law. 

I have been campaigning against this injustice since 2006, arguing for greater protection for cohabitants and their children when relationships break down. Back then, I received an anonymous letter from a woman who had lived with a man for 17 years and had five children with him. She was unable to leave him because he refused to give her a share in the family home, which was solely in his name. She described her position as that of a concubine. 

The then minister, Vera Baird, agreed that “it is women, usually, who are left high and dry after cohabitation, perhaps having dreamt that they did have some property rights … It is important for us to examine the whole subject with a great deal of care.”

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And a year later, the Law Commission reported that: “The result of the current law’s inadequacy is hardship for many cohabitants on separation, and as a consequence, their children… And in many cases relationship breakdown may lead to reliance on the State in the form of claims to welfare benefits and social housing.”

In my Cohabitation Ten Minute Rule Bill in March 2009, I argued: “The law does not recognise the choices that people make in the 21st century and it does not promote equality of outcomes for families. The Bill is long overdue, humane and compassionate. It promotes fairness, social justice and equality before the law.”

Twenty years on, the number of people cohabiting has increased by from 2.2 million to 3.5 million – and the injustice remains. 

The law as it stands is unfair, uncertain and illogical. It penalises the vulnerable and, in particular, the children of cohabitants.

That is why it has to change.

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