from The Christian Institute
Government plans to grant cohabitants in England and Wales financial rights similar to married couples are misguided, The Christian Institute has warned.
Ministry of Justice proposals aim to give couples who live together and “those who simply choose not to marry” more financial security when separating or where a partner dies without a will.
But the Institute’s Joanna Timm said the consultation document further undermines the special status of marriage in law and urged Westminster to focus rather on promoting the lifelong union between one man and one woman.
Framework
The Government plans to introduce “a new statutory framework of rights” which would apply automatically to couples “who have lived together for at least three years or live together and share a child”.
Under the new framework, in the absence of a valid will qualifying cohabitants would be granted “automatic inheritance rights” equal to those of a bereaved spouse or civil partner.
Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy claimed the “reforms strike an important balance between tradition and modernity”, while Justice Minister Baroness Levitt KC said the outcome of the consultation — which launched on 5 June for ten weeks — would result in “a system which celebrates choice, autonomy, and tradition in equal measure”.