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03 March 2017 / David Burrows
Issue: 7736 / Categories: Features , Family
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Cohabitation in 2017 (Pt 1)

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In the first of a series of articles David Burrows explores the complex law which confronts cohabiting couples who separate

  • Family breakdown law discriminates as between married and unmarried couples (especially in relation to distribution of property)
  • Mostly the law in relation to children and their maintenance treats parents the same, whether they are married to one another or not

In November 2016 the Office of National Statistics published its statistical bulletin Families and households in the UK: 2016 which included the information that there are now 3.3 million cohabiting couple families in the UK, and that this number has doubled in the past 20 years. Resolution (a group of specialist family lawyers) commented: “Under current cohabitation law it’s possible to live with someone for decades and even to have children together and then simply walk away without taking any responsibility for a former partner…This can have a huge impact on women and children.”

This statement provides an initial, and partial, view of the complex law which confronts cohabiting couples

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