Family lawyers have stepped up their campaign to reform cohabitation law after official figures showed the number of cohabiting couples has doubled in the past two decades.
Office of National Statistics figures show there are now 3.3 million cohabiting couple families in the UK. Family lawyers’ group Resolution says the law has failed to keep up with this societal change.
Graeme Fraser, Resolution’s spokesman on cohabitation law, said: “Under current cohabitation law it’s possible to live with someone for decades and even to have children together and then simply walk away without taking any responsibility for a former partner when the relationship breaks down.
“This can have a huge impact on women and children, particularly in cases where a mother has given up or reduced her work to raise a family.”
