To hate it when people say 'if you're not married you're legally single'

[DrunkOnCalpol]

Because it's not true, there is no law defining the marital status of unmarried people. If you're not married, legally you're just not married, but that description doesn't enable people to put unmarried couples down so effectively.
Some laws treat co habiting couples the same as married, some don't. Yes people should be informed of the legal differences, but there's no need for some people to essentially say serious unmarried relationships don't exist.

You're right, I hadn't really thought about it but it's annoying if you have to state 'single' if you are in a committed relationship but not married. It's an outdated thing which should be changed, really - when you consider that you can actually put 'unknown' for gender, then being able to state that you are in a relationship but not necessarily married is important.

You arent married are you!
If you want the legal rights of marriage then marry, its simple
Either that or you are single!

Duh, missed the bit that says "as the husband or wife of the deceased."

That's weird, though, that it uses marriage to describe that relationship.

So say you're co-habiting with a long term partner.

You're not single in your eyes because you're in a monogamous relationship.

But looking from the outside, you're not married.

Boyfriend/girlfriend isn't a recognised legal standing, but husband/wife is.

Because it's not true, there is no law defining the marital status of unmarried people. If you're not married, legally you're just not married
Is that true? Being single must be the default legal position. Nobody is born married; it's something that you can only do if you are older than 15.

"That's weird, though, that it uses marriage to describe that relationship."
Exactly, that's the point! It is drawing a direct equivalence between a married and an unmarried sexual relationship and treating long as being the same in law.

Do you actually have an example of that? I just had a quick look but couldn't find one. Here for example is the Zürich application form.

Use some websites like compare the market. Or go and get a car on finance and say co habiting as your marital status when applying for the finance option. I've never seen it as an option when doing it. I was living with my husband for years prior to marriage, including when we were engaged. Always had to put myself as single.

But it’s not though? If your deceased partner dies intestate then:

If you can prove that you’ve been living as husband and wife you are entitled to attempt to make a claim on your deceased live in partners estate.

If you were married, you would automatically be entitled to a portion of it (I forget the exact breakdown)

There’s are lot of ifs and buts in the first scenario and absolutes in the second - they are not the same relationship in law.

That document does only refer to the challenge to a will. They would need to prove their dependancies, or they joint relationship, in a way which married couples wouldn't. And also not in the same way a married partner would automatically inherit in case of death, especially where no will is left.

It's an outdated thing which should be changed, really - when you consider that you can actually put 'unknown' for gender, then being able to state that you are in a relationship but not necessarily married is important.
How would that work if one party claims that they are in a relationship but the other doesn't?

I don’t see the point of this. If you’re not married you’re single in the eyes of the law. Nobody’s stopping anybody getting married if they don’t want to be ‘single’.

Having said that, I don’t know why anybody needs to know, or cares.

Boyfriend/girlfriend isn't a recognised legal standing, but husband/wife is.

That's because being married or in a civil partnership is literally a contract between you both.

Does it matter what other people think?

Unless you're talking about a legal document then of course you're not single from a social perspective if you're in a long term relationship.

I was going to say benefits, so if you live together you are treated as one unit. The government recognises unmarried couples when it suits them.

The part I find most odd is the 'widowed / divorced' option. If it's binary of married or not and every who isn't married is basically the same why have so many of these options on forms etc?

To the belittling point the OP seems to be making I struggle to imagine someone replying to "I'm divorced / widowed" with "you mean legally your single". Which would be legally true too.

Given cohabiting describes a far larger group of people than "divorced" or "widowed" it feels odd to try to ignore it so actively.

Surely it depends what you're talking about. If you're filling in a legal document you might have to tick single, in any other situation (Eg if you're trying to describe your life to someone) no you're not single if you're in a relationship and only a total dick head would claim you are. I'd find it very confusing if someone described themselves as single idlf they were in a long term, committed relationship. Unless I'm you're solicitor it really makes no difference to me whether you decided to legally marry or not.

You are married, civil partnership or single. You can live with someone, but you don't have the same rights as married or civil partnership. There have been cases where sisters have lived together & they cannot avoid inheritance tax, because they cannot marry (unsure about civil partnership) There is no such thing as common law wife/husband

Private companies can make whatever rules they like - many now treat cohabiting partners the same as married people and the government certainly treats "those living as if they are married" the same for benefits however in the eyes of the law you are single and certain things like inheritance, not having a will, hospital visitation, putting your name on a birth certificate even are different. Some differences can be dealt with legally by paperwork but you could still end up with an inheritance tax bill or be refused by your partners family to visit intensive care. For pure security legal marriage (no need for a flashy wedding) or civil partnership is a good idea but or course it means the expense of divorce to split!

If you marry then you enter into the legal contract of marriage with another person.
If you are single then you have not entered into the legal contract of marriage with someone.
If you are widowed then you have entered into the legal contract of marriage but death has ended elements of it (but widow have certain rights I believe)
If you are divorced then you have previously entered into a legal contract of marriage and at the termination of that contract your affairs have been legally separated, possibly with some ongoing responsibilities and rights.

Married, widowed and divorced are all legal contracts with basis in law. Being legally single is just being legally separate from another individual.

Why do you have such a problem with it?

In legal terms though single does mean unmarried - the plain english meaning does not equate in legal terms.

Often (of course there are exceptions) its easier if something is clear and straightforward - you are either married or you are not. Its far to complicated to get into the differences between seeing each other/casually dating/only seeing each other etc. That is why it is difficult to change because there are so many different levels in a relationships before you get married it would be up to personal interpretation.

Civil Partnership was designed to solve some of these issues

To those that are saying 'legally you are single' can anyone point out the law which says this?

look up the legal definition - its because unless the law specifies differently (see for example:

domestic partners
n. unmarried couples, including homosexuals, living together in long-standing relationships, who may be entitled to some of the same benefits as married people, such as job-related health plans.) which cover long term relationships it easiest to have a black and white defintion. Law cannot cover "its complicated" it has to be clear and easy to interpret.

Basically unless a law specify differently (i.e. is designed to cover) you have married and single - with the new addition of civil partnership

When completing forms, you are. I was engaged for 8 years. I still had to put single.