cohabitation

[iclla]

Did anyone hear Clive Anderson's discussion on cohabitation on radio 4 today and how women can end up with nothing at the end of the day if their relationship breaks down?

No, not yet.

But I will have a listen.

Here is a link if anyone needs it.

I thought this was fairly common knowledge tbh. There is no legal definition of cohabitation, no such thing as a 'common-law spouse', unmarried partners are not entitled to a share of the marital home in the event of a split unless they can show they are co-owners, named on mortgages, that kind of thing, and are generally in a very weak position with regards to next of kin issues... giving permission for operations, inheritance etc.

In the whole gay marriage debate at the moment I simply don't identify with people who go on about marriage being about romance, children or commitment. To me it's simply a very hard-nosed contract that confers various important legal rights. If anyone is planning to live together and especially if they are planning to give up paid employment, raise children and be dependent on another person for money and a home, they either need to marry first or to draw up a lot of legal documents to protect themselves. Doing nothing and claiming 'it's only a piece of paper' is foolish.