Increasing levels of people in Scotland are choosing to live together rather than getting married.
One result of this increased level of cohabitation is confusion over property rights. Around 60% of those living together own property, but less than half own their property jointly.
As so many cohabitants fail to make any provisions for the death of a partner, you can see that serious problems lie in store for thousands of individuals.
And yet one simple and inexpensive mechanism could help greatly in safeguarding the position of all concerned - the Will.
Cohabitees do not enjoy the same rights to claim against an estate as a spouse or children. However, the Family Law (Scotland) Act 2006 introduced the right of cohabitees to claim on a deceased partner’s estate – but only if the deceased partner does not leave a Will. Also, claims must be made against the executor of the estate within six months from the date of death – when in some cases it can take that long simply to appoint executors.
The main message – if you are living together, you must have a Will. That applies whether you wish to protect your cohabitee or whether you wish to ensure they cannot claim against your estate.
If you are not yet living together, you may wish to consider a cohabitation agreement.
