Tell me the perks of getting married

[tealover99]

Are there any?

Are there any financial perks of being married?
I'm not talking about taking each other to the cleaners if you split, I mean whilst married, is there any government help like there used to be? As in the married women's reduced rate ni contributions, which I believe has been looong abolished.

“Perk”? No.

I pay less tax as DW isn't working full-time.

Me and DH are always transfering money to each other and if you aren't married this is taxed over a certain amount. DSis and her DP fell foul of this.

If one of you doesn't use all your tax allowance then your oh can use it. Eg if Mrs only earns £9k a year then she has £2.5k of her allowance unused, so Mr can use it. It's on the gov website.

There is an option to transfer your tax free allowance to your spouse but obviously only if you aren’t using it and if your spouse earns under a certain amount (I think 40k).

There is the married couples allowance - one of you can transfer some of your personal allowance to the other one if your income is less than the personal allowance (and if the other person is a basic rate tax payer).

Also inheritnwce tax implications

So in my position as a SAHM (hoping to be back working within the next 18 months), currently renting, is there any point of getting married?

Apart from the love of course

there is a tax transfer in certain circumstances, and there is no inheritance tax.between spouses . thats the big perk that you dont want too soon.

Ah, cross posted with a few of you there

The MCA would give a few hundred a year - you can transfer up to 10% of your personal allowance and then the recipient would save tax at 20% on that so for this tax year would save at most £237

Well if you divorce you may be able to access his pension as part of the settlement and you may get maintenance for yourself not just the children.

Depends who you are, and depends who you marry.

Yes being married protects you financially in case of split. You are very vulnerable as SAHM

Even if you think there's no chance of splitting you never know what's round the corner.....

I don't see a downside to being married in your case.....

As an unmarried SAHM you're extremely vulnerable at the moment.

you can transfer part of your tax allowance to DH provided he is not a higher rate tax payer,

you can inherit everything without paying inheritance tax until second death, all transfers of shares savings etc are tax free which they would not be unmarried
if the worse happened and he died you would get his spouses pension from work maybe a lump sum death in service payment, some widows benefits as the lower earning partner you have nothing to lose by getting married, it may not however be the same for DH
if married you have automatic claim on your house if owed whether on the deeds or not, this is not true if unmarried

Whilst you are together and alive being married is worth about £200 a year, if you aren't earning and your dh is and basic rate tax payer that is. That's about what it costs to get married so you'll be 'in profit' after a year. The main benefits are in the event of a split or death and if you have assets which are not in joint names.

As a SAHM you would be much more financially secure being married.

How so peachy? spousal maintenance is rare nowadays, they don't own a home, if savings are joint then it really only leaves pensions? Don't get me wrong, pensions can be huge but a lot of people have little to nothing in pensions and she wouldn't necessarily get half in the event if divorce anyway. It's the job that provides financial security not the marriage imo.

If you don’t own a house and don’t have a lot of money (I.e savings) honestly marriage isn’t ever going to help you if you split

If you own a house and/or a lot of money is at stake then having been married would be beneficial if you ever split

Basically if you’ve got nothing then even if you divorce there is nothing for you to take.....

Widow's allowance. You and your kids won't get anything if he does and you're unmarried.

There's no inheritance tax between spouses

If you don’t own a house and don’t have a lot of money (I.e savings) honestly marriage isn’t ever going to help you if you split

No, but it will help you massively if your partner passes away.

Good point about the widows allowance, that is something that's always played on my mind. I know my mum relied on that when I was growing up.

Right... how do we plan a wedding?

We do actually want to get married by the way, I'm not just some crazy person who's planning to get married without their partners knowledge
We've been engaged for years(!)
I guess we haven't done it yet as life got in the way... and, well, laziness I suppose.

Maybe I should make a thread on how to do a no frills wedding 🤔

You go to the registry office and apply for a license to marry, chose a day that's available, pay a fee, then you show up on the date and marry. It's really not complicated.

If you have children, which I guess you do and you are unmarried, then you are much more vulnerable. Not just in case you split but in case he dies. It's unlikely if you are both young but far from impossible. There is also the issue of next of kin. Most of the time it's not an issue as hospitals will deal with partners if they have a verbal agreement from the patient but if things are really serious, (coma, life support etc) there is a legal pecking order and 'partner' isn't even on the list.

There is also the issue of more remote possibilities. He could inherit. He could win on the lottery. None of which is something you would be entitled to a share in. Also issues of pension (occupational) many do not pay partners. Only spouses. Same for widowed parents allowance.

Most of these are remote possibilities. However not chances I would take with children.
Marriage costs about £150 . Ifs a genuine deal if you are a SAHM with no or little independent income.