Government rejects cohabitation law reform

On 1 November 2022, the Government responded to the recommendations proposed by the House of Commons Women and Equalities Select Committee in August 2022 regarding the rights of cohabiting partners. Whereas married couples and civil partners in England and Wales have certain legal rights and responsibilities upon divorce and death, cohabitants receive inferior protections.

In particular Committee proposals included recommendations that:

• the Government should legislate for an opt-out cohabitation scheme (as proposed by the Law Commission in 2007);
• there be a change to intestacy rules and family provision claims regarding cohabiting partners’ rights to inherit after the other’s death without the need to attend court; and
• that cohabitees be extended the same treatment regarding inheritance tax enjoyed by spouses and civil partners.

Disappointingly, the Government has taken the decision to reject recommendations to reform cohabitation law in England and Wales. The primary reason given for not supporting any reform is that ongoing work relating to the law of marriage and divorce is to be prioritised and that this work would need to be concluded before attention could turn to the law in respect of the rights of cohabitants.

The Government has also said that it cannot rely on the findings of the Law Commission (from which many of these recommendations originate) because they were made in 2007 and the situation may be different now. It is evident that the Government has decided to kick this issue into the long grass, and it seems disingenuous to suggest that further information-gathering is required before reform can be considered where it is quite clear that cohabitation is the fastest growing family type in this country.

This response will be frustrating to hear for many family law practitioners who have campaigned for years for basic legal protections to be implemented in order to protect cohabiting couples and in particular those who are vulnerable and suffer hardship upon the breakdown of a cohabiting relationship or the death of a partner. What is clear is that the impetus to adapt the law to the social reality of modern relationships continues, despite the Government’s palpable reluctance to grapple with this thorny issue.