Inheritance rights for unmarried couples: what could change?

The Government is considering a significant change to inheritance rights for unmarried couples in England and Wales, which could give qualifying cohabiting partners automatic inheritance rights when their partner dies without a valid Will.

Do unmarried couples have inheritance rights?

Under the current intestacy rules in England and Wales, unmarried couples do not automatically inherit from each other when one partner dies without a valid Will. Unlike a surviving spouse or civil partner, a cohabiting partner is not included in the statutory order of inheritance.

This means that even a couple who have lived together for decades may find that the surviving partner has no automatic entitlement to their partner’s estate.

The proposed reforms could change that, potentially bringing the law closer to the way many modern families live.

As a wills and probate solicitor and as someone in a long and enduring relationship, without having entered into a civil partnership, I strongly support the proposed change. In my view, it is an important step towards bringing the law into line with the way many families live today.

The Government’s “A fairer end to relationships” consultation⁠ closed on 14 August 2026.

Do unmarried couples have inheritance rights under the current law?

The intestacy rules apply when someone dies without leaving a valid Will. Under the current law, priority is given to a surviving spouse or civil partner, followed by children and other relatives. A cohabiting partner does not feature in that statutory hierarchy.

That means that, however long a couple have lived together and even if they have built a home and family together, the surviving partner has no automatic right to inherit simply because of the relationship.

Their potential route to financial provision is instead generally through an application under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975. That can mean litigation, legal costs and uncertainty at precisely the point when someone is dealing with the death of their partner.

There is also a common misconception that a couple who have lived together for many years are effectively in a “common law marriage”.

They are not. Length of cohabitation does not currently create the same inheritance rights as marriage or civil partnership.

What are the Government’s proposed changes to cohabitation and inheritance?

The third part of the consultation, specifically concerning cohabitants on death, asks whether qualifying cohabitants should have the same intestacy rights as spouses and civil partners.

In practical terms, if the proposal became law, a qualifying surviving cohabitant could automatically inherit under the intestacy rules where their partner died without a valid Will, rather than having to rely on a claim for financial provision.

The consultation also considers several connected issues:

• Who should qualify? The Government is considering a definition of qualifying cohabitation and whether there should be a minimum period of cohabitation.
• How long should the relationship need to have lasted? The consultation asks specifically about different minimum periods for couples who do and do not have a child together. The Law Commission previously recommended a five-year qualifying period where a couple did not have a child together.
• Who should administer the estate? If cohabitants are given inheritance rights, the Government proposes that they should also have the same priority as a spouse or civil partner to apply for a Grant of Administration. This would avoid the rather unsatisfactory position where someone might inherit the estate but lack priority to administer it.
• What happens where there are children? The consultation proposes extending eligibility for claims under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 where cohabitants have shared children, but would not otherwise be able to bring a claim due to the length of time they cohabited.

These are important details. The consultation is not simply proposing that every person who happens to be living with someone at the date of death should automatically inherit.

The Government is considering safeguards intended to ensure that the new rights apply to genuinely committed and established relationships.

What would the proposed changes mean for cohabiting couples?

If the proposals ultimately become law, the consequences could be significant. For a long-term unmarried couple, the death of one partner without a Will would no longer necessarily leave the survivor having to bring a claim against the estate simply to obtain financial security. The survivor could instead have a statutory entitlement under the intestacy rules.

It could also reduce the scope for disputes between the surviving partner and other family members. At present, a surviving cohabitant may find themselves in a difficult position where the deceased’s parents, siblings or children (including those from a previous relationship) inherit under the intestacy rules, while the person who shared their home and life with the deceased receives nothing automatically.

Giving a qualifying cohabitant both an inheritance entitlement and appropriate priority to administer the estate would create a much clearer framework and could reduce delay, cost and conflict.

There will, however, be difficult questions to resolve. A qualifying period that is too short could potentially give rights to relationships that were relatively new; one that is too long could leave genuinely committed couples without protection. There will also need to be careful consideration of how any new rights interact with children and other beneficiaries, particularly in blended families.

Why do cohabiting couples need greater inheritance protection?

The current intestacy framework is rooted in legislation dating back to the Administration of Estates Act 1925. Since then, the way people form families has changed considerably.

The Government’s consultation notes that more than 3.5 million couples now live together without marrying or entering into a civil partnership – more than double the figure three decades ago.
That does not mean marriage or civil partnership is any less important. It simply recognises that it is no longer the only way in which people form long-term, committed families.

For me, this is the central point. The law should not assume that a relationship is less significant simply because the couple have chosen not to formalise it through marriage or civil partnership.

As someone in a long and enduring relationship who has not entered into a civil partnership, I find the proposed reform particularly compelling. I believe commitment, shared family life and the reality of a relationship should have greater recognition in the intestacy framework than they currently do.

Why unmarried couples should still make a Will

Even if these reforms become law, they will not remove the need for careful estate planning.

Intestacy rules can only ever provide a statutory default. They cannot reflect every family’s individual circumstances or wishes. A Will remains the best way to decide exactly who should inherit, in what proportions and when.

For unmarried and cohabiting couples, making a Will is particularly important. A professionally drafted Will can ensure that your partner inherits the assets you intend them to receive and can provide greater certainty for children and other family members.

The proposed reforms would provide a valuable safety net for qualifying cohabitants. But, in my view, the best protection remains to make a properly drafted Will and keep it under review as circumstances change.

What do the proposed inheritance reforms mean for unmarried couples?

The Government is consulting, rather than legislating and there are still important questions to be answered about eligibility, qualifying periods and the interaction with children and other beneficiaries.

Nevertheless, I welcome the direction of travel.

We have come a long way since the foundations of our modern intestacy rules were established. Families today look very different from those of a century ago and the law should be capable of recognising that reality.

Giving appropriate inheritance protection to qualifying long-term cohabitants would, in my view, be a fair and sensible modernisation of the law and one which better reflects the families we actually have, rather than those the law once assumed we would have.

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