MPs support right for unwed couples

Co-habitees do not have the same rights as married couples

A bill which could pave the way for unmarried and same sex couples to be granted similar rights to married couples has been backed by MPs.

Reading East Labour MP Jane Griffiths urged parliament on Wednesday to address anomalies in the law.

I had no status. I can't officially call myself a widow

Rose Green

Under the present law unmarried couples in long-term relationships do not have the same rights as married couples.

A law proposed under the 10-minute parliament rule by Ms Griffiths, could allow local authorities to formally register unmarried and same sex couples.

The Relationships (Civil Registration) Bill was approved by 179 votes to 59, a majority of 120, but due to a lack of parliamentary time it is unlikely to become law.

During the debate concern was raised by another Labour MP that a change in the law would undermine the institution of marriage.

But the Law Society has welcomed the move as a step towards giving co-habitees greater rights.

'No rights'

Unmarried couples have no automatic rights to property, their partner's pension or inheritance of assets.

Jane Griffiths: Time for law to be updated

When a marriage breaks down, either husband or wife can be ordered to pay maintenance. The court can also transfer the family home to either spouse.

But co-habitees who split up have no such recourse to the law.

In calling for the Bill, Ms Griffiths is taking up the case of her constituent Rose Green, who began campaigning for a change in the law after she was left with no automatic rights after her partner of more than 12 years died.

Ms Green said: "I had no status. I am not a widow. I can't officially call myself a widow. There isn't a word for my position."

Ms Griffiths told MPs that long term partners were barred from signing the death certificate of their loved ones or of organising funeral arrangements.

She said the Bill was supported by the Law Society and Thames Valley Police Federation which was fighting to make pensions transferrable to partners.

And she argued that it would be "ironic" if MPs, who had granted equal pension rights to their own unmarried partners, denied to others the rights they had given themselves.

Same-sex marriages

But Stuart Bell, Labour MP for Middlesbrough, said his constituents opposed same-sex marriages.

"Couples who have a civil registration will in reality have all the rights of a married couple," he said.

Rose Green wants more rights for unmarried couples

He warned: "The Bill proposed ... would bring about a major redefinition of what is involved in marriage".

Mr Bell called for a referendum if same sex marriages were to become official government policy.

Mark Harper, of the Law Society's Family Law Committee, told the BBC that the present law was unfair to the one in four couples who live together.

"Someone who has lived with their partner for 10 or 20 years, why shouldn't they be able to claim for maintenance or a share of property? And also why can't they claim on the death of their partner as that is when more rights are needed," he said.

He said the Law Society wanted the law to go further by recognising the rights of unmarried couples from the moment they moved in together.