Baroness Ruth Deech has urged the Government to abandon plans that could give qualifying cohabiting couples automatic financial rights when relationships end.
In a submission to Justice Secretary Alex Norris, the crossbench peer argues that any new framework should operate on an opt-in basis and require the informed consent of both partners.
The intervention follows polling of 2,060 UK adults by Survation, which found that 72% had heard little or nothing about the proposed reforms and 37% supported them once explained.
Some 42% considered the existing law broadly adequate, while 41% believed additional rights were needed.
HOMES AND PENSIONS COULD BE AFFECTED
The Ministry of Justice consultation proposes an automatic framework for couples who have lived together for at least three years or live together and share a child, with both partners required to agree to opt out.
Courts would start from the position that each partner keeps what they legally own but could make needs-based orders involving property, lump sums and pensions.
The framework would be narrower than divorce law, while separate proposals would provide qualifying cohabitants with inheritance rights where a partner dies intestate. The consultation closes on 14 August.
Polling found that 76% considered it important for divorced and widowed people to protect assets intended for children and grandchildren while remaining outside an automatic framework.
“Rights should be based on consent.”
Baroness Deech (main picture, inset) says: “The polling shows the Government has no clear public mandate for automatically imposing marriage-like legal rights and obligations on cohabiting couples without their consent.
“Three quarters of the public believe that people who are divorced, widowed or have dissolved a civil partnership should be able to protect the homes, pensions and assets they have built up over a lifetime, preserve them for their children and grandchildren, remain financially independent and stay outside the automatic legal framework.
“Many people consciously choose not to remarry because they value both companionship and financial independence. They should remain free to make that choice, and the law should respect – not undermine – it.”
CALL FOR OPT-IN ALTERNATIVE
Baroness Deech recommends a statutory registration scheme allowing couples to choose the rights and responsibilities they want.
If ministers retain an automatic framework, she argues that either partner should be able to prevent it applying by giving notice that they do not consent.
The Government says existing protections can leave cohabitants facing financial hardship, particularly women, children and survivors of domestic abuse.
Its stated intention is to create rights narrower than those available upon divorce while preserving marriage’s distinct status.
A House of Lords debate in July exposed sharply divided views over whether reform would protect vulnerable partners or undermine personal autonomy.
