Cohabitants still struggle to get a fair deal when their relationships break down, says Lorraine Jones
The law is often said to operate as a reflection of society upholding social and moral values while recognising the popular sense of fairness which individuals would seek to have applied to them.
That does not mean you get what you seek, rather that the framework of the law with the guidance of precedence is applied to each case upon its own facts and merits. Judicial discretion remains and thankfully so because there are cases where a party’s circumstance or contribution demands an adjustment or detraction from the overriding requirement of equality, provided that in itself would not be discriminatory or unfair. These are the basic principles applied to married couples, laid down in White v White [2001] 1 AC 596. But what of those couples who are not married? The Law Commission report published in July last year called “Cohabitation: The Financial
Consequences of Relationship Breakdown” highlighted the difficulties that couples, particularly those with children, were experiencing when their relationship ended.
Cohabitation
Since the 1970s the number of
