Confusion over legal rights on co-habitation

Survey highlights financial implications

NEARLY HALF of unmarried couples who live together wrongly believe they share the same rights as others who have wed, according to a survey published today.

Some 48 per cent of people who cohabit mistakenly think they have a common law marriage, the British Social Attitudes Survey of people in England and Wales discovered.

Experts said the misconception increases the risk of “severe financial hardship for the more vulnerable party” after a breakup.

The survey, which has been conducted by the National Centre for Social Research, found that 46 per cent of the public as a whole believe couples who live together share a common law marriage – just one per cent less than in 2005.

Cohabiting couples account for the fastest growing type of household in England and Wales, the researchers found.

Anne Barlow, a family law and policy professor at the University of Exeter, which commissioned the study, said simply living together grants “no general legal status” to couples.

Ms Barlow added: “The number of opposite-sex cohabiting couple families with dependent children has more than doubled in the last decade, yet whilst people’s attitudes towards marriage and cohabitation have shifted,

policy has failed to keep up with the times.

“The result is often severe financial hardship for the more vulnerable party in the event of separation, such as women who have interrupted their career to raise children.”

Only 41 per cent of the 2,105 people who took part in the survey, which was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, knew there was no common law marriage between cohabiting couples.

More than half of households with children – a total of 55 per cent – thought unmarried couples shared the same rights as those who were married, compared to 41 per cent of households without children.

Singles were most aware of the law, as only 39 per cent of those questioned believed a common law marriage existed.

More men – 49 per cent – than women – 44 per cent – thought unmarried couples who live together were in a common law marriage. People with religious beliefs were also more likely to be mistaken than those without – 49 per cent versus 44 per cent – as were those without a university degree – 50 per cent versus 39 per cent.

Prof Barlow added: “It’s absolutely crucial that we raise awareness of the difference between cohabitation, civil partnership and marriage and any differences in rights that come with each.”

Meanwhile, 28 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds and 39 per cent of people 65 and over perceived cohabiting couples to be in a common law marriage.

More than half - 52 per cent – of 25 to 64-year-olds thought married and unmarried couples shared the same rights.

The result is often financial hardship for the more vulnerable party. Anne Barlow, a family law and policy professor at the University of Exeter.