Partners To Get Marriage-style Financial Rights
- From: "amused onlooker" <null@xxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2007 07:24:05 GMT
http://society.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2138257,00.html
Change of law would allow claims for property and pensions
on separation.
Unmarried couples who split up will be given the right to
make divorce-style claims for financial support from their
partners, under final recommendations unveiled today.
The Law Commission has concluded that couples with children,
or those who have been living together for a minimum period
- they suggest between two and five years - should be able
to seek most of the same financial remedies as people going
through a divorce.
Partners would be able to claim lump sums, the right to
live in the family home and possibly a share of their
partner's pension, under the new rights recommended by
the independent body which advises the government on law
reform.
Stuart Bridge, the law commissioner responsible for the
reforms, said: "More and more families involve couples who
are living together but who have not married. The law that
currently applies to resolve property disputes between such
couples on separation is unclear and complicated, and it
can produce unfair outcomes. This causes serious hardship
not only to cohabitants themselves, but also to their
children."
He stressed that the regime would be "different from
divorce" and denied that it would undermine marriage.
Official figures show there are more than 2.2 million
cohabiting couples in England and Wales, while the number
of children being brought up by unmarried couples had
reached 1.25 million in the last official count in 2001.
Government forecasts suggest there will be 3.8 million
cohabiting couples by 2031.
The government asked the official law reform body two
years ago to draw up proposals for a new rights regime
for unmarried couples, amid concerns about the lack of
protection for the growing numbers living together outside
marriage. Ministers said some months ago that they were
keen to legislate; Scotland has had a similar rights
package in force since last year, though with no minimum
period of cohabitation required.
The detailed plans leave it to ministers to fix the
minimum period a couple should live together before they
are eligible, but it suggests a minimum period of between
two and five years.
They will be able to seek the same financial remedies as
divorcing couples, apart from continuing maintenance
payments. But unlike those who divorce, their rights to
claim will be not automatic and there will be no principle
that family assets should be split equally.
Partners will first have to prove eligibility through
living together for a minimum period or having a child
together and show that they have not opted out by signing
a cohabitation agreement which would spell in out in
advance how property and assets should be split.
Anyone trying to make a claim would also have to show they
had suffered a financial disadvantage or their partner had
gained a benefit through the relationship, for instance if
one partner stayed at home to look after children while the
other advanced their career.
Mr Bridge said of the Law Commission's proposals: "We
consider that our scheme strikes the right balance between
the need to alleviate hardship and the need to protect
couples' freedom of choice."
The commission's report recommends that legislation should
make it clear that cohabitation contracts, allowing couples
to opt out of the scheme and make their own arrangements,
are legally enforceable.
Resolution, the family lawyers' organisation, said over
70% of family lawyers it surveyed believed the current law
badly failed to protect the interests of cohabiting couples
who separated. Spokesman David Allison said: "We fully
support the Law Commission's proposals for reform of
cohabitation law ... and will be pressing the government
to introduce new legislation without delay."
.
- Prev by Date: Women lie, cheat and steal
- Next by Date: Re: Arab Princesses Kicked Off Plane
- Previous by thread: Women lie, cheat and steal
- Next by thread: Male Teachers 'Help Boys Behave'
- Index(es):
Relevant Pages
|
