David Lammy

A lot of your listeners will think that the status of common law marriage actually exists.

And that means that if you've been living together as a couple for several years, that if your partner dies or if you split up, you broadly have the same right as a married couple.

And it's a myth.

The truth is, at the moment, in terms of inheritance, in terms of savings, in terms of financial assets, you don't have the same rights.

And so it is important, I think, that we finally move to a situation given that 3.5 million couples now...

are basically cohabiting and that more children are born to cohabiting couples, 51% than children born to married couples.

Young people are putting off marriage because on average it costs 20 grand to get married.

It's a lot of money and it costs a living crisis.

So for all of those reasons, it's right that we give cohabiting couples rights and

And this consultation is about the basis of those rights for the first time.

Well, any unmarried couple who can prove that they've been living in a committed relationship for three years or longer or live together and have a child will benefit effectively from what we are now proposing, which, as I say, is to give those couples a legislative basis and

on which to the courts and they can make provision in the event of one of those couples passing away or the couple splitting up or indeed the couples having kids and therefore having to reach judgments about inheritance and assets and other things.

when the Law Commission looked at this, they recognised that the new context that many of your listeners would understand, the blended family, does raise new complications for families up and down the country.

They settled, and we're consulting on the basis of, if you've been together for five years, then the partner should be able to inherit in the event of

One of the partners passing away.

And if you've been together for two years and have children, then that partner also should benefit to avoid destitution and the things that can flow from not doing that.

But I do want to emphasize this.

If you're in a blended family in the United Kingdom, you should make sure you have a will.

And you should make sure you have a will if you want to provide, particularly for pre-existing children, notwithstanding your new relationship.

And I will be coming forward with more to say about making wills easier in the modern age in the coming months.