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14 March 2014 / Claire Clarke
Issue: 7598 / Categories: Features , Family
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The lives we live

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Marriage-lite or a new set of rights? Claire Clarke examines the legal options open for cohabitants
The way we were: once upon a time, there was respectable marriage which conferred financial dependence and security on the woman. Outside a world of defiance of convention and no rights except minimal support for the child.

 

The way we are: cohabitation has lost stigma and become a parallel life choice. As many as 40% of all couples now cohabit and one in four children is born outside marriage. Notwithstanding this, English law does not recognise a coherent legal system of relations and obligations called cohabitation. The notion of a “common law marriage” remains a lingering myth which is serving to leave a significant number of people vulnerable and surprised that the law does not offer them similar protection to their married counterparts.

A recent survey of MPs has revealed that 69% of parliamentarians agree that there is a mistaken belief in the existence of “common law marriage” among their constituents and that 57% of MPs

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

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NEWS
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NLJ this week: Divorce ‘nuclear weapon’ freezes assets but entangles outsiders
Freezing orders in divorce proceedings can unexpectedly ensnare third parties and disrupt businesses. In NLJ this week, Lucy James of Trowers & Hamlins explains how these orders—dubbed a ‘nuclear weapon’—preserve assets but can extend far beyond spouses to companies and business partners 
NLJ this week: What counts as ‘rent’? Court says labour alone won’t do
A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified that ‘rent’ must be monetary—excluding tenants paid in labour from statutory protection. In this week's NLJ, James Naylor explains Garraway v Phillips, where a tenant worked two days a week instead of paying rent
Your magistrates’ court needs you!
Thousands more magistrates are to be recruited, under a major shake-up to speed up and expand the hiring process
NLJ this week: Freed but failed—justice system leaves the innocent empty-handed
Three men wrongly imprisoned for a combined 77 years have been released—yet received ‘not a penny’ in compensation, exposing deep flaws in the justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Jon Robins reports on Justin Plummer, Oliver Campbell and Peter Sullivan, whose convictions collapsed amid discredited forensics, ‘oppressive’ police interviews and unreliable ‘cell confessions’
NLJ this week: Clarity on whistleblowing, settlements and tribunal limits
A quiet month for employment cases still delivers key legal clarifications. In his latest Employment Law Brief for NLJ, Ian Smith reports that whistleblowing protection remains intact even where disclosures are partly self-serving, provided the worker reasonably believes they serve the ‘public interest’ 
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