What do you think would happen if Common Law Wife / Husband WAS a thing? /

[DontDrinkDontSmokeWhatDoIDo]

There are often posts on here where (usually) women have fallen into financial difficulties through living with but not being married to their partners.

Often it's is a nasty surprise to them that despite living as 'man & wife', they don't have the rights that come with legally being married.

It got me thinking - what if the concept of Common Law wife / husband DID exist, and that after, say, 5 years of living together, similar rights to marriage DID apply?

I can see loads of outcomes, and I'm not entirely sure it would be a bad idea.

What do you think would happen ?

There would be a shit tonne of litigation trying to sort out the mess it would cause. The courts would try to make fair decisions but as those decisions bind lower courts it would become a minefield.

Just look at the cases around rights to property in Equity where non married couples split up. That would be going on all the time!

There would be loads of attempts to manipulate it too, so people maintaining a second home or moving out for a short period during year 4 to restart the clock, or claiming they live with parents or from the otherside arguing that they live together when they don't. How would it affect people who are working away? Would they be covered or not, that could disadvantage partners of offshore workers or the military.

It would be a nightmare.

My friend told me in New Zealand at just two years cohabiting your relationship is recognised legally. So if you move in with a partner and split after 3 years things like housing and savings can be considered joint and solicitors involved. I think that’s really short!

Could the laws in NZ / AUS be a hang over in remote places where possibly the facilities to actually register a marriage might be quite some distance away, so that getting married wasn't just so easy?

@FinallyHere

Could the laws in NZ / AUS be a hang over in remote places where possibly the facilities to actually register a marriage might be quite some distance away, so that getting married wasn't just so easy?

Nothing to do with remoteness, the laws were changed when Julia Gillard was Prime Minister. She is an unmarried woman who lives with her partner. She also has no children and was against gay marriage. The Prime Minister who gave the famous speech about

She has since said she was wrong about gay marriage. Well she was certainly wrong about taking away the choice of Australians deciding for themselves whether they want to be able to live with their de facto without entering into a marriage like contract.

@FinallyHere

Could the laws in NZ / AUS be a hang over in remote places where possibly the facilities to actually register a marriage might be quite some distance away, so that getting married wasn't just so easy?

There was facility to legally (i.e. British law) marry in even small communities or nearby from early colonial times.