Couples warned over inheritance

Many people who cohabit misunderstand their inheritance rights, a survey from the website Advicenow suggests.

More than half of 1,004 adults surveyed said they believed that cohabitants have similar inheritance rights to those of married couples.

Legally, however, cohabiting couples have no right to automatically inherit assets from a dead partner.

Almost two-thirds of cohabitants did not have a will but still wanted their partner to inherit.

Know your rights

The last thing a bereaved partner needs is to have to worry about being able to stay in the shared home Mary Weber, Advicenow

According to Advicenow, many cohabiting couples are wrongly placing their trust in the concept of Common Law marriage.

This is the idea that cohabitants gain rights similar to those of married couples after a period of time.

But Common Law marriage does not exist.

Instead, property at death is distributed either according to the terms of a will or, if there is no valid will, the law of Intestacy.

Under Intestacy, married or civil partners stand to gain the most. What is left over usually goes to children or other family members.

Cohabiting partners can be left with nothing.

Mary Weber , Advicenow spokeswoman, warned that people risk leaving an unmarried partner in the lurch by not making a will.

"Unfortunately, we can never be sure of what lies around the corner, and the last thing a bereaved partner needs is to have to worry about being able to stay in the shared home, paying the bills, or being forced to hand their partner's possessions over to someone else," she said.