Couples who live together but aren’t married given urgent warning

Sure, being in a relationship has some lovely benefits like you know, sharing your life with someone, feeling loved and all that.

But one great thing is getting to split rent with your partner by living together.

However, while enjoying cheaper fees for your extortionate flat seems great, there’s a warning for couples who live together but aren’t married.

And even Martin Lewis has highlighted the legal involvements that you should probably be aware of.

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It’s not a particularly happy thing either, but an important reality if you’re sitting smug about your half price house costs in this extortionate market.

Lewis previously mentioned it on his The Martin Lewis Money Show Live, where he explained the lack of legal protection without marriage.

Because basically, if your better half was to die while you’re not married, the situation over inheritance would land in the hands of the government.

So, Lewis warned: “If you’ve got assets, do a will, that way you decide where the money goes. A special point to anyone who is co-habiting, you’re not married, you’re not a civil partner.

"If you have been living together for 30 years and you’ve got nine children, it still means nothing in the law when it comes to a will. Your partner wouldn’t get anything."

The Money Saving Expert also urged those who were married to make sure they knew what their will said, particularly if they were separated from their spouse and with a new partner.

He warned that if you were married to one person but separated from them and in a relationship with someone else then an old will leaving it all to your spouse would leave your new beau high and dry.

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Lewis said that everywhere in the UK besides Scotland revoked your will when you got married and some people might not know that.

Dying without a will could also cause some issues, as the Money Saving Expert gave the example of someone passing away in England without writing out what they wanted to give to their nearest and dearest.

Lewis said someone popping their clogs in England would end up with the first £320,000 going to their spouse and anything else would be split between the spouse and the kids which might not have been what they wanted.

Basically, go and get a will, or if you have one already it never hurts to check that it's up to date and says what you want it to.

Because you never know what might happen.

Topics: Martin Lewis, Sex and Relationships, Money

Jess Battison

Jess is an Entertainment Journalist with a love of all things pop culture. Her main interests include keeping up with the Twitter girlies, waiting for a new series of The Traitors and losing her voice at a Beyoncé concert. She graduated with a first in Journalism from City, University of London in 2021 and has previously worked at MyLondon.

@jessbattison_