David Lammy

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.

Yes, it's certainly the case that historically in the UK, people have been wary of looking issues that, you know, they can feel morbid looking into what might happen in the event of you dying.

No doubt about that.

But if you're in a blended family, please make a will.

If you're listening to this, think hard about how you want your inheritance to fall.

And don't assume because you're a cohabiting couple, it's common law marriage.

exists because it does not we're seeking to correct that but as we speak today it does not exist and of course wills are something that you should revisit they must be witnessed they must be legal and of course legal advice is available for anyone who wants to make a will

We're not consulting on today on the basis of tax rules.

That remains an issue that sits with my colleague, Rachel Reeves.

She'll be very upset with me if I either have to divulge tax arrangements for cohabiting couples.

And look, I think it's right.

We do recognize, don't we, as a society, that with marriage comes certain benefits.

And that is still the case.

But we do not want to disadvantage greatly people who are cohabiting, recognizing that in the modern world, there are many people cohabiting and also recognizing, for example...

that with domestic violence still an issue in society, women fleeing marriage, we don't want to disadvantage those women who have been cohabiting with a partner and end the relationship, get the courage to end the relationship and therefore disadvantage the result for her or indeed her children.

So for all of those reasons, it's right that we bring rights to those who are cohabiting, but they are not the same rights to those who choose to formally enter into a marriage.

Well, you're absolutely right.