Do I need to get married?

[JG24]

As per the title really. In my situation do I need to get married...(For my sake not my partner's)
Age 35. I earn £55k. He earns £38k
Both work full time
My wages likely to increase and finish at a higher wage than his
Own a house together
Savings £30k between us
Pensions currently £50k between us and again mine likely to increase more than his
Unlikely to receive much inheritance (potentially nothing or max £100k each)
Have a 3 year old
Wills done leaving everything to each other.
Currently doing LPOA for each other

So is there any reason to get married ATM? And if not now at what point would we need to?

We've not signed the forms yet
Wills were done last week so just starting looking at the LPOA now.
Thanks for the advice. I'll do a lot of research before signing these

Thanks for all the comments. Obviously more to think about. It's hard to know what to do for the best

My main concern for you would be ill health affecting your ability to work in the long term. It can happen to anyone at any time and could prevent you working or massively reduce your hours and thus earning potential and pension. So if you don’t want to get married then please make sure you have the best insurances.

My marriage began with me as the higher earner and with greater earning prospects in the future. Ill health has resulted in my not working but fortunately I am married. You need to provide that protection through some other means.

Thank you. I'll keep thinking what the best thing to do is

I had a remarkably similar situation to you OP, thought it over for ages and in the end got married because it was quicker and easier than all the legal, pension, POA bits to get the same protections and security. We possibly do have a complicated inheritance situation in our futures as well on both sides.

We had the minimum civil marriage ceremony you can have with just the DC there and witnesses, super cheap and surprised ourselves with how much we enjoyed the wedding day!

Unexpected benefit- my new DH loves being married! It's really sweet and funny, he'a always been a lovely DP but he just somehow adores being Husband and is happier and even more nurturing and caring now. Maybe it won't last! It's cute though.

To avoid a massive tax bill just get married.
We got married last year after 30+ years together, as we didn't realise how much tax we would of had to pay if/when one of us passes.

That's what the LPA is for

Afraid not! If joint tenants the property passes automatically to the survivor, but it is most definitely still included in the estate for the IHT calculations. If you were married there wouldn’t be tax on this as spouse exempt. Hence saying previously that you actually are not that far from the limit on second death.

If it's about needing to get married, then don't. The only good reasons to get married should be love and wanting to make a public and legal commitment. 🙄

Also if you do get married later, marriage revokes a will unless made ‘in contemplation of marriage’ and specific wording included in the Will.

With the figures as they are I think you would be wise to if you want to avoid inheritance tax. That said, I'd be leaving some of it in trust to my child so that they couldn't be disinherited later.

Not at all, it's a legal contract with a load of faff expected by society around it. Far better to consider the implications of entering into a legal partnership with someone which can only be undone by divorce, rather than getting married because you're in lurrrve.

Can I check - I don't understand the second death part. Does that mean your child would pay more inheritance tax on the death of the second parent?

I had understood it as if, say, you joint own a house worth 300k and will it to your partner, it counts as 150k worth of inheritance. That's then owned in full by the partner who inherited (and generally mortgage paid off by life insurance), so why is there more tax to pay on the death of the second partner?

Because on the first death they only own half the house and other assets so it’s not as close to the threshold for OP. On second death the survivor owns the whole value. If they were married, the tax free allowances will transfer but if not married they won’t. So the whole value but only single not double allowances on second death.

Is that because the parents didn't try, though? What would happen if the parents tried to exclude the partner?

At death, the LPA ceases. You may find yourself excluded from making decisions around funeral arrangements. This isn't down to the executor of the will, but the next of kin. Unmarried, you're not NOK usually. So even if you are executor, it could be quite tricky if you don't have a good relationship with the other party's family.

Didn't think of this either!
So useful to get everyone's advice. Thank you

Thank you for this. Definitely a consideration then

This was a key point for me and my partner. We want to be each other's NOK and that is very difficult to enforce when you're not married, especially in an emergency situation.

"Is that because the parents didn't try, though? What would happen if the parents tried to exclude the partner?"

@Gwenhwyfar this would be my worry. Things can change very quickly I'm family relationships when NOK issues (especially related to money or decision making come into play), and that would be my worry.

Some PPs have said that legally it can all be sorted without getting married which is true, but the point is that marriage is basically the only way to leave absolutely no doubt about who your NOK is, and in situations where you may need to act quickly or make difficult decisions, the last thing you want to be doing is digging out paperwork or arguing with relatives about LPOA.