Marriage-lite or a new set of rights? Claire Clarke examines the legal options open for cohabitants
The way we are: cohabitation has lost stigma and become a parallel life choice. As many as 40% of all couples now cohabit and one in four children is born outside marriage. Notwithstanding this, English law does not recognise a coherent legal system of relations and obligations called cohabitation. The notion of a “common law marriage” remains a lingering myth which is serving to leave a significant number of people vulnerable and surprised that the law does not offer them similar protection to their married counterparts.
A recent survey of MPs has revealed that 69% of parliamentarians agree that there is a mistaken belief in the existence of “common law marriage” among their constituents and that 57% of MPs believe the law needs to be changed to provide greater protection
