Matin Lewis - Warning to Unmarried Partners Without a Will

The Money Saving Expert founder urged unmarried couples to make financial arrangements.

In his Money Saving Expert newsletter, Mr Lewis highlighted a problem that unmarried couples who live together without a will could face. Mr Lewis highlighted that those who are not married or in a civil partnership have “no status under inheritance law”. This means that a partner could be at risk of losing an asset they assumed they would naturally inherit.

One example the Money Saving Expert highlighted was if a couple live together and one partner dies, then the other may not get the house even if they've lived in it for years.

He explained that it didn’t matter if a couple had been together for 82 years or had had 17 children together.

Due to this, he urged those in these long-term relationships to take the steps to write a will or draw up a contract in order to clearly describe the wishes a person has upon their death.

Cohabitating couples are the fastest growing family type in England and Wales; according to the Office of National Statistics (ONS) there are around 3.6 million cohabitating couple families in the UK.

This is a 22.9 percent increase over the last decade.

Experts have warned of the “common law” myth for inheritance tax which is often believed by cohabitating couples in the UK.

According to inheritance tax rules, there is normally no tax to pay if a person leaves everything above the £325,000 threshold to their spouse or civil partner.

If left to anyone else, the standard rate of tax on it is 40 percent.

This is not extended to those who have been in a relationship but not married, although many believe this to be the case.

The same goes for the issue of inheritance itself, as a person will not be able to automatically inherit on the death of their partner.

A nationwide survey conducted by Stowe Family Law showed 51 percent of Britons wrongly believe couples who live together have the same legal rights as married couples.

This is due to a false assumption there is such as thing as a “common law marriage”.

The law firm argues this has led to a significant increase in unmarried cohabiting couples making inheritance claims when their partner passes.

These individuals have realised too late they have no financial protection in the event of their partner’s death.

The same goes for the issue of inheritance itself, as a person will not be able to automatically inherit on the death of their partner.

A nationwide survey conducted by Stowe Family Law showed 51 percent of Britons wrongly believe couples who live together have the same legal rights as married couples.

This is due to a false assumption there is such as thing as a “common law marriage”.

The law firm argues this has led to a significant increase in unmarried cohabiting couples making inheritance claims when their partner passes.

These individuals have realised too late they have no financial protection in the event of their partner’s death.

This is where a will could make a big difference.

Mr Lewis pointed to the importance of wills in his newsletter and encouraged his readers to have the "unpleasant" chat with their family and friends.

A will is a legal document which outlines what will happen to someone’s money, possessions and property, which is referred to as a person’s estate, under inheritance law.

If a person dies without a will, it could cause complex issues for a person’s loved ones if wishes were not made completely clear.

If a person clearly states in their will that they would like their partner to inherit everything and that is legally sealed, then there should be no issues in the inheritance.

For unmarried couples, Mr Lewis also recommended them to make a “cohabitation agreement”.

Having a water-tight agreement is likely to help later down the line if disagreements occur.