Martin Lewis sends warning to ‘unmarried’ couples who live together
8 July 2024, 17:13
Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis has revealed the importance of wills between partners, especially unmarried couples living together.
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Martin Lewis is the man to go to for financial advice, from council tax reduction and inheritance tax tricks, to hacks on how to make Christmas just that slightly more affordable.
Not only is he the founder of The Money Saving Expert, Martin is also a financial journalist, the host of two podcasts, The Martin Lewis Podcast as well as Not The Martin Lewis Podcast, and stars in The Martin Lewis Money Show on ITV.
His credentials speak for themselves, and during ITV Money Show Live, Martin warned any couples living together and who aren’t married that they should seriously start considering working up their wills and assets.
According to the journalist, just because you live together doesn’t mean you’ll automatically inherit your partner’s finances and assets, especially with no will in place.
Morrish Solicitors state: "Unmarried couples do not have the same legal rights as couples who are married or in a civil partnership. Therefore, it is vital unmarried couples make wills if they would like their partner to inherit from their estate.”
"A person who dies without leaving a valid will is called 'intestate'. Under the Rules of Intestacy, if your partner dies without a will, and you are unmarried you will receive nothing."
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Martin backed these statements on his show, reitterating that time is not a factor under the eyes of the law. He stated: "A special point to anyone who is cohabiting - you’re not married and you’re not a civil partner.”
“If you’ve been living together for 30 years and you’ve got nine children, it still means nothing in law, when it comes to a will.”
"Your partner wouldn’t get anything under the intestacy rules which dictate what happens when you die without a will. A will is crucially important to you."
The Intestacy rules in England and Wales see the first £322, 000 of the deceased’s finances and assets automatically go to their partners in marriage, civil partnerships, children or close relatives first.
If a person’s estate is worth more than that amount, half will go to surviving children and half will go to a spouse.
Martin keenly advises unmarried couples to hire a solicitor to get their wills in order to avoid any conflict should the worst happen.
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