Posted by DivorceLine in Should The Family Law Be Changed To Accommodate Changing Marriage Trends?
According to recent figures published by the Office for National Statistics, marriage rates in England and Wales are at their lowest due to the fact records began. Diverse men and women have their own opinion about what lies behind this trend, but blaming the recession by claiming it really should just be since men and women can not afford to marry at the moment is wrong. In reality, this trend is nothing new; marriage has been in steady decline for the reason that 1980.
Far more likely explanations for this drop in what was once an institution are our increasingly liberal society and its removal of the stigma associated with unmarried cohabitation and parenting and an boost in education and careers, specifically amongst ladies, causing us to wait longer until we marry.
Nevertheless, like any family law solicitor will tell you, there are definite benefits to being married very than living together. Such benefits are mainly concerned with cash: tax, inheritance and the like, so they’re fairly essential. There are massive numbers of UK couples who live together but who aren’t married; in reality such couples make up one sixth of all couples in the country.
Regrettably though, not all of them realize they are missing out on the rights that married couples appreciate: half of them mistakenly believe that they have rights as ‘common law spouses.’ Things are only going to get worse, and Far more unfair: it’s estimated that by 2030, a quarter of UK couples will be unmarried cohabitants.
The Conservative party is quite publicly plugging its concept for introducing tax breaks for married couples in order to encourage marriage, whilst the left-wing attack this notion as ‘social engineering:’ and interference with a burgeoning social trend away from marriage. Other politicians just call for the improve of protection for all vulnerable families, married or not.
One thing’s for particular though, in basically two decades the British family and its dynamic have changed beyond recognition, in which time fairly small family law has been updated. So it appears there’s a very excellent argument for altering family law to reflect the decline in marriage.
