Plymouth and Exeter based solicitors firm the Family Law Company is warning how co-habiting couples
Plymouth and Exeter based solicitors firm the Family Law Company is warning how co-habiting couples don’t have legal rights they may think they do.
Plymouth, UK (PRUnderground) February 3, 2014
The Family Law Company, a company of family solicitors Plymouth, is warning how co-habiting couples don’t necessarily have the legal rights they might believe they do.
Popular belief has it that when couples have been co-habiting for a certain length of time they gain rights similar to those of marries couples.
But the Plymouth based Family Law Company is warning how this is a “myth which has passed into folklore” which can cause further anguish and chaos for separating couples.
Lives are often thrown into turmoil by relationship break-ups and the Family Law Company wants to see the legal side of that misery stamped out.
The warning has come after a survey, carried out by Co-Op Legal Services, revealed how since 1996 the number of co-habiting couples in the UK has more than doubled to six million - and that 1.5 million of those couples have no wish to get married or enter civil partnerships.
A spokesman for the Family Law Company explained: “If a couple get together and one has equity in the home, the person who has moved in will have no rights when they go their separate ways unless he or she can prove they have made a financial contribution.”
That means couples should always put both their names on the deeds of property whenever they invest together.
It’s also a good move for couples to meet a solicitor early in their relationship in order to have a document called a deed of trust drawn up. Making a will is also advisable.
The Family Law Company spokesman added: “Couples should talk about their finances right from the start of a relationship and not just trust that things will be all sunshine and light.
“We see a lot of people in awful situations purely because they have failed to take simple steps to protect themselves in the early stages of relationships – often because they have this mistaken belief they will gain legal rights over time.
“The myth is a dangerous one and needs to be tackled by legal professionals.”
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