Life Insurance for Unmarried Couples
Most couples living together believe that after enough years the law treats them like a married couple. It does not, and it never has.
Common law marriage is not a thing in England and Wales. However long you have lived together, however many children you have and whatever you both intended, an unmarried partner has none of the automatic rights a spouse has.
That is not an argument for getting married. It is an argument for arranging things deliberately, because nothing happens by default.
The short answer
There is no such thing as a common law spouse in England and Wales. An unmarried partner does not automatically inherit, does not get the spouse exemption from inheritance tax, and has no automatic claim on a pension or a jointly used home they do not legally own. That makes life cover written into trust more important for cohabiting couples than for married ones, not less.
What this changes
- Your partner does not automatically inherit if you die without a will
- Transfers to a partner do not get the spouse exemption from inheritance tax
- A pension death benefit may be paid at the scheme's discretion rather than to your partner
- If the home is in one name, the other may have no automatic right to stay in it
- A jointly held mortgage still has to be paid by the survivor regardless of who inherits
- Nomination forms and trusts carry far more weight than they do for married couples
The bit people miss
The sharpest version of this is the house. A couple buy a home, one name goes on the deeds because of credit history or a deposit, both pay the mortgage for a decade, and then the legal owner dies without a will. The survivor has been paying for a house they do not own, has no automatic right to inherit it, and may be dealing with the deceased's family. Life cover written in trust pays straight to them rather than through the estate, which is why the trust matters as much as the policy.
Common Law Marriage Does Not Exist
It is worth being blunt about this, because the belief is widespread and it costs people their homes.
In England and Wales there is no legal status that cohabiting couples acquire through time. Not after two years, not after ten, and not because there are children. If you die without a will, the intestacy rules distribute your estate to relatives in a fixed order, and an unmarried partner is not on that list at any point. They may be able to make a claim through the courts, which is slow, expensive and uncertain, and happens while they are grieving.
So everything a married couple gets automatically has to be arranged deliberately: a will, a nomination on any pension, and life cover written into trust so that it does not go anywhere near the estate.
The Trust Does The Work, Not Just The Policy
Buying a policy and leaving it in your own name solves half the problem for a cohabiting couple and leaves the difficult half.
A policy not in trust pays into your estate. That means probate, which takes months, and it means the money is distributed according to your will or the intestacy rules rather than to whoever you had in mind. For a married couple that usually resolves to the spouse anyway. For an unmarried partner it may not resolve to them at all.
Writing the policy in trust means it pays to the named beneficiary directly, usually far more quickly and outside the estate. It costs nothing to do at the point the policy is set up and it is considerably more awkward to arrange later. It is the single thing most worth getting right in this situation.
What usually fits, and why
The trust is the point for unmarried couples. It pays the money directly to the person you name rather than into your estate, which avoids probate delay and the question of who inherits.
Illness affects a cohabiting household the same way it affects a married one, and neither has any automatic support from the other's employer or pension.
Two incomes paying one mortgage is the normal arrangement, and the one that fails worst when either stops.
Common questions
Does my partner inherit if we are not married?+
Not automatically. If you die without a will, the intestacy rules distribute your estate to relatives in a fixed order and an unmarried partner does not appear on that list. They may be able to bring a claim through the courts, which is slow, expensive and uncertain, and it happens while they are grieving. A will and life cover in trust are how you avoid that.
Is common law marriage real?+
No, not in England and Wales. There is no legal status that cohabiting couples acquire through time, however long you have lived together and whether or not you have children. The belief is widespread and it is the reason a lot of people discover the position at the worst possible moment.
Why does writing the policy in trust matter so much for us?+
Because a policy not in trust pays into your estate, which means probate and distribution according to your will or the intestacy rules. For a married couple that usually ends up with the spouse anyway. For an unmarried partner it may not reach them at all. A trust pays the named person directly and outside the estate, and it costs nothing to set up with the policy.
What if the house is only in one of our names?+
Then the other has no automatic right to inherit it, however long they have been paying the mortgage. That is the sharpest version of this problem and it is common, because one name often goes on the deeds for credit or deposit reasons. Life cover in trust gives the survivor the money to deal with it, and a will and a declaration of trust on the property are worth proper legal advice.
Do we need more cover than a married couple?+
Not necessarily more, but arranged more carefully. A married couple gets inheritance, tax exemption and usually a pension outcome by default. You get none of that by default, so the same protection has to be built deliberately through a will, pension nominations and policies written in trust.
Cover that often goes with this
The gaps we most often find sitting next to this one.
- Life insurance for couplesSingle and joint policies compared.
- If you do get marriedWhat changes legally, and what does not.
- Life coverIncluding how writing it in trust works.
- How much do you need?Sizing it against the mortgage and the household.
- Talk to an adviserAsk specifically about writing the policy in trust.