{"id":376900,"date":"2026-09-08T19:00:27","date_gmt":"2026-09-08T18:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsisc.com\/videos\/why-life-is-set-to-get-easier-for-unmarried-couples\/"},"modified":"2026-09-08T19:00:27","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T18:00:27","slug":"why-life-is-set-to-get-easier-for-unmarried-couples","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsisc.com\/videos\/why-life-is-set-to-get-easier-for-unmarried-couples\/","title":{"rendered":"Why life is set to get easier for unmarried couples"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i2.ytimg.com\/vi\/QuiAI0_V7qg\/hqdefault.jpg\" alt=\"Why life is set to get easier for unmarried couples\"><br \/> <iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/QuiAI0_V7qg\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe> <\/p>\n<p>It has been described as the biggest shake-up to family law in a generation.<\/p>\n<p>At present, unmarried people who live together don\u2019t have many rights around finances, property or their children if their relationship breaks down or a partner dies. This could soon change.<\/p>\n<p>In England and Wales, there are around 3.5 million couples who are not married or in a civil partnership but live together long-term, known as cohabiting.<\/p>\n<p>These couples could soon get similar rights to those who are married as part of a government consultation that has divided opinions.<\/p>\n<p>Under the new plans, unmarried couples who have lived together for at least three years, or have a child together, could gain rights to bring financial claims if they separate.<\/p>\n<p>And if an unmarried partner dies without a will, their other half could get automatic inheritance rights if they have lived together for at least five years, or have a child together and have lived together for at least two years.<\/p>\n<p>The same rules will apply to heterosexual and same sex couples.<\/p>\n<p>Those in favour argue that the changes will modernise outdated laws around relationships, but critics say it devalues marriage and takes away choice.<\/p>\n<p>Mollie Swaine, 24, and her partner Patryk Kotwicki, 26, have been together for more than five years.<\/p>\n<p>The pair, from Cheshire, don&#8217;t want to get married and have no plans to have children, and they feel this puts them at a disadvantage in terms of rights.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt&#8217;s something that we just don\u2019t want to do,&quot; Mollie told ITV News.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;We are building a life together and making major financial commitments without being married. We love each other but we don&#8217;t think having a ring on your finger means anything.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>And they are not alone, as for decades attitudes towards marriage have been radically changing.<\/p>\n<p>Since peaking in the early 1970s, the number of people tying the knot has fallen by more than half.<\/p>\n<p>There were 3.5 million cohabiting couples in 2025, up from 3.2 million in 2024, according to the Office for National Statistics. That makes up 17% of households.<\/p>\n<p>Married couples accounted for 65.3% of families in 2025, down from 66% in 2015.<\/p>\n<p>Through the government&#8217;s proposed changes, couples like Mollie and Patryk could soon have the same benefits as those who are married.<\/p>\n<p>When Katie Weatherhead&#8217;s fianc\u00e9 Jono Stead died suddenly and unexpectedly in 2022, just months before their wedding, her world fell apart.<\/p>\n<p>The couple, who were both 27 at the time, had been together since they were teenagers and had been saving for the future.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;Jono was very giving, very generous,&quot; she told ITV News. &quot;He was the life and soul of the party.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;We had planned our wedding, we were getting married in the April, just under four months after he died. It was all planned, all saved for. Unfortunately it never got to happen.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>Because they were unmarried and Jono did not have a will, Katie had few rights to their shared assets and savings.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;I don&#8217;t think grief has really hit until probably earlier this year,&quot; she said.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;As far as I was concerned, I lost everything when he passed, and then to have to fight for my own assets, it&#8217;s been mentally tough.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;We were both still very young and you don&#8217;t expect to have to go through this at such a young age because you expect you&#8217;ve got your whole life together ahead.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;I think to experience that grief at such a young age and to then have to deal with everything else on top is an awful lot for somebody to go through.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>The proposed changes would help people in Katie\u2019s position, but they are controversial.<\/p>\n<p>Critics say the plans raise serious questions about consent and fairness, and ignore women in particular who have consciously chosen financial independence.<\/p>\n<p>Baroness Ruth Deech, a cross-bench member of the House of Lords and a former law professor, is one of the high-profile voices against the proposed changes.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;Consent is the important thing,&quot; Baroness Deech told ITV News. &quot;If you get married, you consent. If you have a civil partnership, you consent.<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 Subscribe to ITV News on YouTube: http:\/\/bit.ly\/2lOHmNj<br \/>\n\u2022 Get breaking news and more stories at http:\/\/www.itv.com\/news<\/p>\n<p>Follow ITV News on TikTok https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@itvnews?lang=en<br \/>\nFollow ITV News on Instagram: https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/itvnews\/<br \/>\nFollow ITV News on Facebook: https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/itvnews\/<br \/>\nFollow ITV News on X: https:\/\/twitter.com\/itvnews<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It has been described as the biggest shake-up to family law in a generation. At present, unmarried people who live together don\u2019t have many rights around finances, property or their children if their relationship breaks down or a partner dies. This could soon change. In England and Wales, there are around 3.5 million couples who [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":376901,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[128812],"tags":[],"actors":[],"class_list":["post-376900","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-itv-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Why life is set to get easier for unmarried couples | News ISC Videos<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Watch Why life is set to get easier for unmarried couples for free, here on News ISC. 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