King's Speech: Lack of Cohabitation Bill Is Missed Opportunity To Provide Protection For Millions Of Couples

Today’s Kings Speech is a missed opportunity to provide clarity to millions of couples across the UK who are currently cohabiting and don’t understand that there are few protections in the event of a separation.

Despite the increasing number of couples living together without getting married, the law does not offer the same protections to them if they separate. There is no such thing as a ‘common law marriage’, which many cohabiting couples only discover when their relationship breaks down and they are left in a much more precarious position than their married counterparts. 

Over the past few decades the law hasn’t kept pace with changes in society, and family organisations and lawyers have called for law reform in this area for years. Labour’s election manifesto confirmed that they wanted to ‘strengthen the rights and protections available to women in co-habiting couples’.

There was hope that a new Cohabitation Bill might make it into the first Kings Speech of this new Government but sadly it has not made the cut.  

Cohabitation Bills of different shapes and sizes have been proposed before and never proceeded to Royal Assent due to the competing priorities of prior Governments. Whilst legal avenues can be pursued in respect of children, by parents in their capacity as their ‘parent/carer’, claims in their own right in many circumstances are limited or non-existent. We can only hope that this Government will find time over the next five years to give the millions of cohabiting couples the clarity and protection they need and deserve.

While we await any Government action on cohabitation reforms it’s important that cohabiting couples seek independent legal advice on how to protect their wealth and assets. A cohabitation agreement can cover a range of issues such as the ownership of property, who pays what share of the rent or mortgage, who is responsible for which bills and even who gets the dog in the event of a separation. 

Find out more about cohabitation and unmarried couples' rights.