Marilyn Stowe Blog

Archive for the cohabitation tag

BBC Woman’s Hour: Civil partnerships are a stopgap

Earlier today I appeared on BBC Radio 4 show Woman’s Hour. I am always delighted to receive an invitation to appear on this iconic show. Women have been debating and discussing the finer points of their lives on this radio institution since 1946!

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Living together alone?

Is living apart the new being together? Quite possibly, if a new university study is anything to go by.

It is a detailed look at a social phenomenon which has been dubbed ‘living apart together’ – that is to say, couples who form relationships but do not move in together. Apparently

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Divorce rates declining in Canada

Divorce rates in Canada have dropped eight per cent since 2006, according to new figures from government agency Statistics Canada.

Unhappy couples across the country filed for a total of 53,804 divorces in 2011, a drop of two per cent since 2010, following similar steady drops in earlier years.

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Cohabitation on the rise in US

An increasing number of unmarried couples are living together in the US, according to a new study by the National Centre for Health Statistics.

Forty-eight per cent of women who moved in with men between 2006 and 2010 were

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Cohabitation: is there any point in not getting married?

Any family lawyer who has chalked up a few years in the profession will be very aware of one particular social trend of recent decades: the rise of cohabitation, and this is certainly a subject I have written about more than once.

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Sociologist claims gay marriage “breaks the link” between marriage and parenthood

Sociologist Dr Patricia Morgan has claimed that the legalisation of gay marriage will accelerate the decline of heterosexual marriage by breaking the cultural link between marriage and parenthood.

She made the claims in a lengthy submission

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US singer Ne-Yo reveals secret wedding at 19

R&B singer and producer Ne-Yo has revealed that he got married at 19 but the couple split up after less than a year.

The singer, now 30, told celebrity site TMZ: “Wait, actually, yeah, when I was like 19. It wasn’t even for like a year. It isn’t well known because nobody really asked.”

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Scottish court awards ex-partner of plumbing tycoon a record payout

The unmarried former partner of wealthy businessman Steve Owen has been awarded a record payout by the Scottish courts.

Jacqueline Whigham was granted £250,000 by Scotland’s highest civil court, the Court of Session

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Married households have dropped by six per cent says ONS

The number of people under 65 living in married households has dropped by six per cent in the last ten years, according to new figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The percentage of UK residents in one family married households dropped from 50 per

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Court of Appeal throws out girlfriend’s claim to house

Should a former cohabitant who has had a child and worked in a successful business which has helped maintain the house he owns in his sole name be able to claim over that property when the relationship ends? Is it fair she leaves with nothing?

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Isle of Man politicians debate the rights of unmarried fathers

Members of the Legislative Council of the Isle of Man have given a third reading to an act which would give unmarried fathers living on the island parental responsibilities equal to married ones.

The bill was introduced by legislative council member Juan Turner. Mr Turner told members

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Cohabitation in the UK has almost doubled in 16 years

The number of people living together in the UK without getting married has almost doubled since 1996, according to new figures from the Office for National Statistics.

Its latest statistical bulletin on figures relating to families and households reveals that there

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News: Lords debate inheritance in cohabitation bill

The House of Lords has debated key aspects of the Inheritance (Cohabitants) Bill, a
private member’s bill which proposes significant changes to the rights of cohabitants if
their partner dies.

Speakers in the recent House of Lords debate included Lord Lester of Herne Hill

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Cypriot businessman’s lover wins share of his estate

A woman who was the partner of a Cypriot businessman for the last six years of his life has won a lengthy legal fight to keep a substantial slice of his fortune.

A previous decision to award 51 year-old Diane Holliday ownership of the couple’s home in Knaphill

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Is marriage set to become a minority pursuit?

Marriage is on the way to becoming a minority pursuit, according to a new report from think tank the Centre for Social Justice.

The report, called Forgotten Families, suggests that conventional marriage has become increasingly associated with affluence

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BBC Sunday Morning Live: Has Marriage Had Its Day?

Yesterday I appeared on the BBC's current affairs debate programme, Sunday Morning Live.

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Living in sin?

Church bells, champagne, flowers in lapels, bright pavilions on summer lawns, drunken uncles dancing….yes, I am thinking about weddings. Marriage is one of the most basic of all social institutions and so one that is very easy to take for granted.

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Cohabitee disputes and trusts of land – a barrister’s perspective

Today our firm welcomed a talk about Cohabitee Disputes and Trusts of Land, given by barrister Sarah Harrison of Chancery House Chambers in Leeds. Sarah has handled a number of such cases for our clients and has come away with some excellent results.

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Gow v Grant: the Supreme Court rules on cohabitation

The Supreme Court has delivered its eagerly-awaited judgment in the Scottish case of Gow v Grant. One interesting point is the emphasis on the fair and reasonable - even for cohabiting couples.

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This week I’ll be fielding cohabitation questions on This Morning

Cohabitation and the legal rights (or lack of them) enjoyed by unmarried couples have been covered in detail on this blog over the years. Cohabitation is when couples live together as man or wife, with or without children, but without being married.

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Should the government legalise gay marriage? By guest blogger DT

Given the recent controversy surrounding the legalisation of same-sex marriage and its status as a cornerstone policy of our current government, I am delighted to publish a guest post on the topic. I am most grateful to the author DT, a qualified solicitor, for some interesting insights.

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Kernott v Jones on BBC Breakfast

Earlier today I appeared on BBC Breakfast, to discuss the Supreme Court’s ruling in Kernott v Jones. Accompanying me on the sofa was Patricia Jones, whose appeal was upheld by the five Supreme Court justices who heard the case.

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divorce-book

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Marilyn Stowe on ITV Daybreak & ITV This Morning

Marilyn’s Thought For The Day

Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life; define yourself.

- Harvey Fierstein

Awards

UK Blawg Awards 2010

About Marilyn

Marilyn Stowe is the senior partner in Stowe Family Law, which has offices in Yorkshire, Cheshire and London. With more than 30 years’ experience handling divorce cases and family law proceedings she is regarded as one of the most formidable and sought after divorce lawyers in the UK. In 2012, Marilyn became one of the first solicitors to qualify as a family law arbitrator.

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Note

All persons mentioned in the scenarios are fictitious: details have been deliberately changed in order to protect identities and other confidential circumstances of my clients. All advice and information on this blog including posts written by guest authors, is given only as a general guide to the operation of the law on the date of publication. Readers must place no reliance whatsoever on the content of this blog and must always obtain their own legal advice. Marilyn Stowe, Stowe Family Law LLP and guest authors accept no liability whatsoever arising as a result of reliance upon its content.

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