Cohabitation rules: sometimes OK, says Michael Tringham
Cohabitation is the UK’s fastest growing type of family relationship. With marriages and civil unions lagging, the number of cohabiting couples has increased by more than 60% over the last 18 years—with percentages peaking among the over-50s. The law is starting to catch up, but some hard cases point to hurdles along the way where probate is concerned.
Military service
Servicemen and women who want to make a will before being deployed on operations are given an MoD Will Form to fill in and place in a sealed envelope. This is logged by the individual’s unit and sent to the Service Personnel and Veterans’ Agency Document Handling Centre in Glasgow.
Since 2005 the Ministry of Defence has received fifteen complaints or queries about missing Wills, all involving dead members of the armed services.
Three were found after a search. But a Will reportedly made in 2008 by Corporal Rob Deering, who died in Afghanistan in December last year, was not. As a result his partner Gemma Polino has issued a caveat against a 2006 Will that left
