Martin Lewis Alerts Cohabiting UK Couples To Potential Financial Risks
Most people don’t spend their evenings thinking about wills, power of attorney, or inheritance tax. But if you’re living with a partner without being married or in a civil partnership, personal finance expert Martin Lewis thinks you should.
And coming from someone who’s built an entire career around saving people money, it’s probably worth listening. He’s not telling anyone to rush down the aisle, but he is making it clear: living together without legal ties could leave one of you financially exposed, especially if something unexpected happens.
Plenty of couples are happily unmarried. Some see marriage as outdated. Others just don’t feel the need to formalize things when cohabitation feels good enough. And for the most part, that works, until it doesn’t.
What many don’t realize is that the law doesn’t automatically recognize long-term cohabiting partners. There's no such thing as a “common law marriage” in the UK, no matter how long you’ve been living together or how committed you feel. So, if one partner dies or the relationship ends, the other could be left with no legal claim to property, money, or even shared possessions, unless steps were taken ahead of time.
In his newsletter, Lewis pointed out that inheritance law is particularly unforgiving. “If your partner passes away, and you're not married or in a civil partnership, you might not be entitled to anything,” he warned. Even if you've been sharing a home for decades, without legal backing, you have no automatic right to it.
Martin Lewis frequently shares his financial advice on TV.
Lewis isn’t pushing marriage as a romantic ideal. He’s saying it’s worth sorting the legal side, whether through marriage, civil partnership, or at the very least, a well-written will.
“Be blunt. Be candid,” he advised.Talk about the hard stuff, the what-ifs, the worst-case scenarios. It’s not pleasant, but it's practical. Once it’s out in the open and sorted, you can stop worrying about it and focus on living your life together.
If marriage or a civil partnership still doesn’t feel like the right fit, he recommends getting a solicitor to help you draft a clear will. That way, your partner (or children, or anyone else you care about) can have rightful access to your estate if something happens.
ITVMarriage can boost your financial security.
It’s not just about death. Relationships sometimes end while both people are still around, and things can get messy fast. That’s where a cohabitation agreement comes in.
Lewis explained it like this: “While a will determines what happens to your assets and belongings once you die, a cohabitation agreement spells out what happens if your relationship breaks down, so a bit like a will for the living.”The idea is to agree in advance on how things like rent, bills, and shared possessions will be handled if you split up. It can also protect each person from financial abuse or unfair treatment, particularly if one partner earns significantly more than the other.
These agreements hold more weight if both people get independent legal advice before signing. It's not about preparing for failure; it's about making sure you’re both protected if life takes a turn.
PexelsYou might want to have a talk with your partner.
Lewis also raised another tough topic: what happens if one of you loses the ability to make decisions? Illnesses like dementia, strokes, or accidents can leave people mentally incapacitated, and without a Power of Attorney in place, your partner might not have the authority to make important decisions on your behalf, even if you've lived together for years.
That means sorting out a Lasting Power of Attorney now, when you're healthy, could save a world of stress later.
PexelsAt the end of the day, none of this is fun. It’s not exciting, romantic, or particularly cheerful. But it’s necessary. Because if something goes wrong, whether it’s a breakup, a death, or a sudden illness, having those documents in place can make a world of difference.
So, as Lewis puts it, have the conversation, sort out the paperwork, and then go back to your evening. Whether it’s dinner, Netflix, or just chatting about your day, at least you’ll know that the foundations are taken care of.
