Abby Buckland

Cohabiting Partners  -  Kingsley Napley Comment on WEC Letter
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Cohabiting Partners  –  Kingsley Napley Comment on WEC Letter

Published on
Abby Buckland
Abby Buckland
Family and Divorce
Partner
Kingsley Napley

Commenting on the Women and Equalities Committee’s letter to Family Justice Minister Lord Bellamy, Abby Buckland, Family Law partner at Kingsley Napley LLP says:

“Given the trend of declining rates of marriage, an increase in the age of those getting married and a rise in cohabitation, the WEC is absolutely right to be urging the Government to do more to address the lack of protection for cohabitees and not to put this issue to the back of the queue.

“A review of the Matrimonial Causes Act and how finances are divided between separating spouses on divorce is, the Government has said, to take priority but if marriage is increasingly out of fashion, then this is not providing solutions to those families with arguably the greatest need.

“Cohabitants have limited rights on relationship breakdown resulting in stark and often unfair outcomes for the individuals affected and their children, particularly when compared to the protection which would have been afforded to them had they been married. The Government has repeatedly failed to extend legal protection in this area but there is overwhelming evidence to suggest this should be a priority.

“The WEC is right to highlight that progression is being side-lined with no sense of urgency or resolve.”

About Abby Buckland

Abby is a Partner in the Family and Divorce team in Kingsley Napley who undertakes matters involving all aspects of private family law and in particular complex financial issues and private children cases.

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Marriage is going 'out of fashion' today's Census reveals
Photo by HiveBoxx on Unsplash

Marriage is going ‘out of fashion’ today’s Census reveals

Published on
Abby Buckland
Abby Buckland
Family and Divorce
Partner
Kingsley Napley

The latest Census on marriage and civil partnership status in England and Wales, released this morning, shows that the number of people getting married is at the lowest rate on record and the median age of those getting married is increasing.

The data also suggests a divergence of approach to traditional relationship structures between generations. While more people are choosing not to marry or form a civil partnership at all, this is being seen in a far greater proportion in younger age groups.

The biggest increase in this trend is evident in the 25 to 29 years age group, where 73.9% chose not to marry or be in a civil partnership in 2011 rising to 84.2% in 2021. The increase for those aged 30 to 34 years was from 49.2% to 58.9% between 2011 and 2021.

Today’s data confirms that marriage is falling “out of fashion”. These statistics should add weight to the importance of the Government bringing proper focus to the rights of cohabiting couples.

Disappointingly, reform in this area was effectively shelved by the Government at the end of last year, a decision which, this data shows, could leave huge numbers of individuals without effective legal protections should their relationships end.

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About Abby Buckland

Abby is a Partner in the Family and Divorce team in Kingsley Napley who undertakes matters involving all aspects of private family law and in particular complex financial issues and private children cases.

You might be interested in