to not prioritise marriage to my DP?

[Tryingtomakesenseofit2025]

Romance aside …
DP and I have two DC and contributed equally to home we own in common.
Both our jobs are flexible. I’m not self employed but could take on more work to earn more money if I needed. Right now I do more childcare and my partner contributes more to household expenses.
Are there legal or financial benefits I am missing by not being married?

AIBU to not prioritise marriage to my DP if the idea doesn’t appeal to us?

You are being unreasonable to not make the most of legal and financial protections available to you and your children?

You are NOT being unreasonable, in your situation, romance aside, there are no real advantages?

That's not what marriage is about

What happens if one of you dies tomorrow? What happens if he leaves you tomorrow? Marriage means you are next of kin, have a legal entitlement to a share of his assets and can offer some protection in relation to being entitled to his pension etc. Have a proper look into it and also take out life insurance if you haven't already. If he leaves you tomorrow presumably your career has suffered more than his due to your current set up. So again having legally joint assets means there is more scope for a legal recognition of that when assets are split. Think about your pension versus his too. If you don't want to get married a simple civil partnership gives all the legal and financial benefits marriage does.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6581860/martin-lewis-is-being-married-financially-worth-it-the-nine-big-benefits-and-how-to-use-them

Speaking as a person who has been happily unmarried for nearly 40 years, you need to talk to a solicitor. It’s possible to replicate most of the protections marriage gives, but you have to actively do it. It’s not automatic.

There are tax benefits.

It's not clear whether you're working fewer hours or in a less well paid career to enable you to do more childcare. If that's the case then your pensions will not be equal as yours will have taken a hit. No marriage, no claim on a share of his pension.

Have you considered a scenario where one of you is injured or seriously ill? You would not be considered each other's next of kin if you have no LPOAs in place so you wouldn't necessarily have a say in medical treatment/ whether a life support was turned off, or have access to money either of you holds in separate accounts.

At the very least, get wills written, LPOAs in place, organise life insurance, keep money in joint accounts.

It is for many. I had my son earlier than o thought we would have children so we married for the legal and financial protections.

Do you both have wills? Do you inherit from each other and would any inheritance tax be due if one person died? No tax between husband and wife is one of the major tax benefits of marriage

It depends.

What were your reasons for moving in with your DP in the first place?

If it was a financially motivated decision then you've already achieved that. If it was like a kind of "trial marriage" to see whether or not you were compatible before you made it official then only you can decide whether to go ahead with marriage or not.

There are ways to obtain most ig not all of the legal protections but its time consuming.

It is completely up to you which way you do it, but you do have to tie up those loose ends.

YABU if you’re the lower earner / have fewer assets and don’t work full time.

It’s not about romance