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Cohabiting Rights?
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
What do you think about the law being changed so that cohabiting couples have the same rights as married couples?
Personally I am not sure its necessary. Some people may be put off cohabiting and surely if two people are truly commited they could get married.
On the otherhand new protective laws may reduce poverty for women and children.
Personally I am not sure its necessary. Some people may be put off cohabiting and surely if two people are truly commited they could get married.
On the otherhand new protective laws may reduce poverty for women and children.
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But that asside. What to do when cohabitants no longer live together - sepatation or bereavement - it should be assumed, for the period of the cohabitaion, all parties contribute equally to the change in value of the joint estate - unless (on a case by case basis0 it can be demonstrated this is grossly unreasonable; the estate shjould be split based upon the intial contribution of the cohabitants, and the subsequent changes. In the event of a death, the claims of the deceased's heirs should be suspended untl te death of the surviving cohabitants, or until the surviving inhabitants dispose of any joint assets
Unless you aren't legally allowed, then if you want the same rights as a married couple, get married. Otherwise don't whine that you don't.
It's a simple concept but that won't stop this thread, no doubt, from descending into a slanging match again like it did last time.
If you want your girlfriend to be protected, you sign up to the legal protection already provided by the state. If you don't want her to be protected, or consider a political point to be worth more than her protection, then you don't.
If you want the rights of a married person you get married. It's really that simple.
On a practical note, its completely unworkable, although it will have the added bonus (for me) of creating more work for lawyers. When is someone co-habiting? Do homosexuals have the same rights? How do you prove that someone is a couple if one says they are and one says they aren't? Why should someone else have rights over property without it being agreed? Will pre-nups now become legally binding, and will all couples have to enter into pre-nups?
I can't wait for the work, tbh, as my new job is in Legal Aid advice work, but everyone else is fucked.
My thoughts exactly.
Oh, except for you. I guess that makes you boring. We should settle for discrimination then.
I'm glad I know there are still some decent people working in the legal profession.
I guess it depends on whether you think people should be able to choose whether they give claims on their property to people or not. I think that if you want someone to have a claim on your property then you should choose to give them it (e.g. marriage, mortgage).
My problem with this is the uncertainty- when do you become an item? Do you live together? How long for? And don't forget that homosexual couples should have the same protection, which means even more people are affected. What do you do if one housemate reckons you're an item and the other doesn't? The problems are endless. If I were you I'd train up as a family lawyer, you'll make a killing with this new legislation. I can see this being hell to adjudicate, which I think is the intention.
If you want the rights of a married person then you get married. It's all safely down in black and white, there can be no arguments about intention or how long you've been a couple or anything. If you get married you intend to give your wife rights and protection over your assets, there can be no argument.
You want to be treated like a married couple? Get married. Marriage, or the legal equivalent, is open to every single couple in the country, and if you choose not to, then its your own look-out.
As Kermit has said, when do you begin being a "couple", will it be like a marriage if it ends (same proceedures and rights as a divorcee) and if it is how will it be monitored. Also something else it may cause is individuals being apprehensive of getting into a relationship, because once they move in the partner has the same rights as a spouse. I think its incredibly stupid and is encouraging people to not get married.
Im with Kermit, if you want the rights of a maried couple then get married....nobody has an excuse not to.
Exactly.
If you are straight you can get married. If you are gay you can get married (or the legal equivalent, anyway).
So if you don't get married its your own lookout.
What's that then?
Maybe I don't need the state to validate my relationship?
What if I don't agree with the institution of marriage?
And to me its not about the state validating a relationship, its actually commiting youself to someone. Swearing in front of God that you will be there for them through thick and thin and everything else said in typical marriage vows.
I live with my partner and have done for 2 1/2 years. She feels the same. We are committed to each other but don't require the state to validate our love.
Personally I don't need fairytales to be able to commit to someone.
Maybe it's old-fashioned, but I think if you want the same rights as married couples, then get married. You don't have to spend a load of cash, it's the principle. If we give everyone the same rights then marriages will be meaningless and no-one will bother.
I can't imagine not getting married - and especially having kids before I'm married. Yep, I'm proper old-fashioned!
So you're basically making everyone conform to what you want?
I don't think I said that, did I?
I just gave my opinion and what I will be doing with my own life.
She said she thought. Not that you had to.
But tbh, I agree with Babyshambler and Kermit. There's no need for people purely living together to have the same rights as married people. Every relationships different, theres no way of marking the point at which they deserve to have the same rights. Whereas marriage is a pretty solid way of showing you're serious about someone.
:yes:
Yes, she said that people should have to get married.
As you say, every relationship is different, so why should every relationship be forced into a one size fits all contract?
Also, the idea that people co-habiting have a less stable or bankable relationship is pretty bemusing. Are we getting into territory where you have to have been together for xx years before you have these legal rights? Because then surely we have to stop people who've known each other for six and a half weeks getting hitched? Why should they have marital rights that a co-habiting couple of five years wouldn't? :chin:
Nail meet head.
Why should people who've purely moved in together have the same rights as two people who've made an obvious commitment?? I could move in with my friend next week, we've been very close friends for 14 years, know each other in and out, shared everything, and if we lived together we'd share everything too. We wouldn't be a couple though - so we wouldn't get those rights. Surely that's unfair too.
As briggi points out, you could marry someone you've only known for 2 weeks...then get divorced a month later.
Exactly.
So Nikki rather than taking this as an attack on married people's rights (after all no one is calling for them to be diminished or taken away) it might help to look at it as having a more broad-minded approach to relationships in a day and age where everything isn't black and white. Maybe the general concensus - of almost everyone - is that relationships should be judged on their own merits, or at least not stuck into box one (married) and box two (the great un... er, co-habitees). It makes nonsense that getting married should equal greater rights, especially when it's a piece of fucking piss to get married and divorced and married and divorced these days...
btw, what would be the point of doing that?
So marriage is just about getting rights is it? The way i see it, the only difference between a happy co-habiting couple and a happy married couple is a ring and a bit of signed paper. I'm not saying that marriage is pointless, but i don't understand how a couple who have been through the ceremony deserve more rights, just for being married.
Anyway - if a couple get married just to get more rights then that goes against the whole point of marriage.