A well drafted will is the only way cohabiting couples can protect themselves
The Law Society has warned that more than one million unmarried and same sex couples not in a civil partnership will inherit nothing if their partner dies without a will and has dependent children.
Under intestacy laws, dependent children will inherit the entire estate of the deceased, while the cohabiting partner will stand to inherit nothing.
The rules on who will inherit the estate of someone who dies intestate were recently updated through the Inheritance and Trustees' Powers Act 2014, which strengthened the position of married spouses and civil partners, but left the position of cohabiting couples unchanged.
Andrew Caplen, president of the Law Society...
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