A common piece of advice given by solicitors is “there is no such thing as a ‘common law’ marriage”. This was probably the advice given to Mrs Maureen Martin, the estranged wife of Norman Martin, when she inherited his half of a house he owned with his partner Joy Williams.
Norman Martin died suddenly in 2012 from a heart attack. He had lived with his partner Joy Williams for 18 years in a property they owned together in Dorchester. They owned the house jointly as tenants in common rather than as joint tenants. A joint tenancy means that a property passes to the other owner automatically outside of any will. As this was a tenancy in common, Mr Martin’s half share went to whomever he had specified under his will. As this had not been updated, his wife was named as the beneficiary. Even if he had died without a will, as he was still married, his wife would have inherited under the law on intestacy.
The fact the Mr Martin had never divorced his wife, or updated his will, meant Mrs Martin and Ms Williams ended up in a long legal battle which, it seems, is not yet over.
The law affords very little protection to unmarried couples on separation. If there are no children, strict property law applies. If there are children any additional claims are limited – usually to provision for a house whilst the children are in education, perhaps a car and child maintenance.
The law when one partner dies is the law offers slightly more protection for the partner left behind. The Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 was amended in 1996 to allow claims to be made against a deceased’s estate by a person who lived in the same household as the deceased as husband and wife for two years ending immediately before the date of death.
Ms Williams relied on the Inheritance Act to bring a claim in respect of Mr Martin’s share of the house. The house was said to be worth around £320,000. If Mrs Martin had been able to retain the half share left to her under her estranged husband’s will, she could have forced a sale of the property.
The judge found that Ms Williams and Mr Martin had “a committed and loving relationship” and the relevant test in the Inheritance Act had been fulfilled. He therefore made an order giving Ms Williams the other half of the property. Suffice to say, Mrs Martin was not happy with this decision and has said she intends to appeal.
As claims under the Inheritance Act are governed by the court rules on civil procedure – and are therefore not technically family cases – the court ordered that Mrs Martin should pay Ms Williams costs at £100,000. The court rules in family cases are generally that each party should pay their own costs.
This is a case in which the legal costs have already reached the point at which they are disproportionate to the amount at issue. If there is an appeal, these costs could double.
The case illustrates three important issues. First, if Mr and Mrs Martin had divorced the financial affairs of both of them would have been set out in a court order.
Second, whether or not Mr Martin had divorced, a cohabitation agreement, coupled with updated wills, would have made clear the intentions of Mr Martin and Ms Williams.
Finally, and most importantly, it demonstrates the unsatisfactory state of the law on cohabitation. Even though the Inheritance Act is one of the few pieces of legislation giving some protection to cohabitees, it still resulted in expensive, stressful and lengthy litigation for two women who should have been looking forward to peaceful retirements. A complete overhaul on the law on cohabitation is well overdue.
Taylor&Emmet’s head of contentious probate Alex Watkinson specialises in complex cases such as this one and he comments “this situation is becoming an increasingly common occurrence and is leading to more court proceedings. Unless the law relating to unmarried couples who co-habit is changed, litigation after a death will continue to increase. Careful estate planning can help to minimise that risk”.
At Taylor&Emmet we have a dedicated team of experts who specialise exclusively in this area, if you would like to discuss matters relating to this blog then just get in touch on 0114 218 4000.
0 Comments