Why does marriage have to be legal

If you want to make a living together agreement or a declaration of trust, you should get help from a family law solicitor. You can contact your nearest Citizens Advice for help to find a solicitor.

You can choose a civil or religious marriage, but in some cases, a religious marriage alone will not be valid and you will also need a civil marriage. If one partner dies, any balance in the account will be the property of your partner's estate and cannot be used until the estate is settled.

If you have a joint account, then both you and your partner have access to the account, regardless of whether only one of you pays into it. If your relationship ends, and you can't agree who the money belongs to, a court might have to decide. However, if one of you didn't use the account at all, for example, you didn't pay any money in or take any out, it may be difficult to claim that you have any right to it. If the account is in joint names, on the death of one partner, the other partner becomes entitled to the balance and can continue to have unlimited access to the account.

However, a proportion of the balance will be taken into account when calculating the value of the estate of the person who has died. If a married couple has a joint bank account, the money is owned jointly as long as they're married. It doesn't matter who put the money into the account. On the death of one partner, the whole account immediately becomes the property of the other. Debts and overdrafts relating to a joint bank account will be the responsibility of both or either partner, irrespective of who incurred them.

If each partner in a married couple has a separate bank account and one dies, the bank may allow the other partner to withdraw the balance providing the amount is small.

Parents with parental responsibility are entitled to have a say in important decisions about a child's life such as the child's home, health, education, religion, name, money and property. Parental responsibility lasts until a child reaches You can find out if you have parental responsibility on GOV. If you separate, you and your partner may make informal arrangements for your children. This is the case whether you are living together or married. If it isn't possible to make an informal arrangement, you can apply to the court for a child arrangements order.

Find out more about making arrangements for your child. Both parents are responsible for financially supporting their children. He can be contacted by the Child Maintenance Service for maintenance if he is not living with the mother.

Similarly, if the child lives with the father, the mother can be contacted. Both same-sex parents are responsible for financially supporting their children if they are the children's legal parents and can be contacted by the Child Maintenance Service for maintenance. A mother can appoint a guardian to act on her death and a father can appoint a guardian to act on his death if he has parental responsibility for the child. Even if there is no will, the child of unmarried and married parents has a legal right to inherit from both legal parents and the families of both parents.

If you are worried about the nationality or immigration status of your children consult an experienced adviser, for example, at your local Citizens Advice. You can find out what you might inherit if someone has died without a will on GOV. If one partner dies without leaving a will, the surviving partner will not automatically inherit anything unless the couple owned property jointly.

As an unmarried couple, you need to make wills if you wish to make sure that the other partner inherits. If one partner dies without leaving enough in their will for the other to live on, the surviving partner may be able to go to court to claim from the estate.

If you inherit money or property from an unmarried partner, you are not exempt from paying inheritance tax, as married couples are.

When your married partner dies, you will inherit under the will of the dead partner if it makes provision for you. If either married partner dies without making a will, the other will inherit all or some of the estate, depending on how much it's worth. You are liable for any debts which are in your own name only, but not for any debts which are just in your partner's name. You may be responsible for the whole of debts in joint names and for other debts for which you have 'joint and several' legal responsibility.

For example, in England and Wales, if you owe council tax, you and your partner will both be responsible for the debt, regardless of whether one of you contributes or not.

If your partner has a debt for which you have acted as guarantor, you will also be held legally responsible for paying it. If you're married, you will not be responsible for any financial obligations or debts that your partner had before you were married. Marriage, divorce, or even just moving in with someone can have an impact on your money as your priorities change. Use our budget calculator to see where your money goes each month so you can plan for the future and keep on top of bills and other expenses.

You can go to court for an order to protect yourself and your children if your partner is violent. The court can order the violent partner to leave the home for a certain period of time and, if the court order is not obeyed, the violent partner can be arrested.

A man can be convicted of raping his partner, whether or not they're married or living together. For more information, see Domestic Violence. An unmarried couple can separate informally without the intervention of a court.

The court does have power to make orders relating to the care of the children. Find out more about deciding what to do when you separate. A married couple can separate informally but if you want to end the marriage formally, you will need to go to court and get divorced. Both partners have a right to stay in the home until either there has been a divorce or the court has ordered one partner to leave. You can read more about ending a marriage. Neither partner has a legal duty to support the other financially.

If you have children, find out how to arrange child maintenance. If you and your partner live together and are claiming a means-tested benefit, you'll be treated as a couple and your income will be assessed jointly. If your partner won't support you, you can ask a court to order them to support you. Your ex-partner may have to continue to support you after your marriage has ended if you have made a legal agreement or if there is a court order. As a tenant, your rights will depend largely on your tenancy status.

If you're not sure what this is, you can check what type of tenancy you have if you:. If you are the unmarried partner of a tenant, whether in private or social housing accommodation, you will usually have no rights to stay in the accommodation if the tenant asks you to leave.

It is therefore advisable for partners who are living together to be joint tenants, as this gives them equal rights and responsibilities. Many social housing landlords will require partners who live together to take on a tenancy as joint tenants. It is possible to convert existing sole tenancies to joint tenancies if the sole tenant and the landlord agree.

However, as an unmarried partner, you can get short-term rights to stay by applying to court. Find out how to apply to the court to get short-term rights to stay. You can also get long-term rights to stay by applying to court to transfer a tenancy, whether it's a sole or joint tenancy. Find out how to apply to the court to get long-term rights to stay. You may also have different rights if your partner has been violent towards you. If your partner has been violent towards you, see Domestic violence.

If you are an unmarried partner who is not a tenant and need to stay in the home, you should consult an experienced adviser, for example, a family law solicitor - your local Citizens Advice will be able to give details of local solicitors. For more information, find out what happens to your home when you separate. If a sole tenant dies, a surviving partner may have the right to continue living in the home. If you are in this situation, you should seek legal advice. Both married partners have the right to live in the matrimonial home.

It does not matter in whose name the tenancy agreement was made. This applies unless a court has ordered otherwise, for example, in the course of separation or divorce proceedings. If you and your ex-partner both agree on who should stay in the home, you can ask the landlord to transfer the tenancy into the name of the partner who is staying.

If both names are on the tenancy, you can ask for the tenancy to be put in your name. If you can't agree on who should stay and you are divorcing, the long-term right to your tenancy can be decided alongside divorce proceedings.

The court can transfer the tenancy to your name, even if your partner is the sole tenant, or you and your partner were joint tenants. You can find out more about what happens to your home when you separate. If you're not separating legally, for example, divorcing, the court will only agree to transfer a tenancy if it decides it is in the best interests of your children.

You can find out how to apply to court to transfer a tenancy for the benefit of children. If you want to apply to transfer a tenancy, you should do this at the same time that you apply for a divorce.

If you don't do this, it may not be possible for the tenancy to be transferred at a later date. You may cancel your subscription at anytime by calling Customer Service. Skip to Main Content Skip to Search.

News Corp is a global, diversified media and information services company focused on creating and distributing authoritative and engaging content and other products and services. Dow Jones. By Ashby Jones. To Read the Full Story. Subscribe Sign In. But it held that their right to marry had been violated.

The law was based primarily on tradition, and there was no legal reason why a couple in this situation could not have a relationship. There had also been several cases where couples in the same circumstances had obtained exemptions by personal Acts of Parliament laws for the benefit of individuals.

This showed that the objections to such marriages were not absolute. Download the publication for more examples and legal case studies that show how human rights work in practice.

Article Right to marry. Pages in this section T The Human Rights Act Article 2: Right to life Article 3: Freedom from torture and inhuman or degrading treatment Article 4: Freedom from slavery and forced labour Article 5: Right to liberty and security Article 6: Right to a fair trial Article 7: No punishment without law Article 8: Respect for your private and family life Article 9: Freedom of thought, belief and religion Article Freedom of expression Article Freedom of assembly and association Article Right to marry Article Protection from discrimination Article 1 of the First Protocol: Protection of property Article 2 of the First Protocol: Right to education Article 3 of the First Protocol: Right to free elections Article 1 of the Thirteenth Protocol: Abolition of the death penalty.