DWF Cautiously Welcomes Call for Inheritance Law Updates
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David Pickering
National Head of Family
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Add vCard View BiographyDate: 19/12/11
The Law Commission has recommended that unmarried cohabiting couples should have the same entitlement under the Intestacy Laws as a spouse of someone who dies without making a will, if they meet certain criteria.
Current inheritance laws, which date back to 1925, leave unmarried couples with no automatic rights to a share of their cohabiting partner's estate. However, the Law Commission has recommended that the surviving cohabitant should receive the right to a deceased cohabitant’s estate if they have lived together for at least five years, or two years if they have children.
Inheritance law also only entitles married spouses with children to the first £250,000 of their partner’s estate if their spouse dies without a will; or £450,000 if there are no children. The Commission has recommended that they should inherit the whole estate, if there are no children.
The Ministry of Justice has stated that it is considering the Law Commission’s recommendations and will respond in due course.
The Law Commission’s recommendations should be welcomed as an improvement on the current rules on intestacy; if taken on board, the revisions would allow cohabiting couples, in certain circumstances, to benefit from their deceased cohabitant’s estate in the same way as a married spouse can.
However, it would not eradicate the need for a will, as the proposed rules will not cover those relationships which do not meet the specified two and five-year time period requirements. If one person in a relationship dies just short of the cut off point, for example, it could make a very difficult time even more frustrating for their partner.
So, while the Law Commission’s proposed recommendations will provide a much needed update to current inheritance laws, we would always recommend that the best way to deal with this uncertainty is to write a will. This is undoubtedly the best way to provide definitive clarity and certainty as to the deceased's wishes.
