-- Two months after the Government’s consultation on cohabitation rights closed, Romford family law firm Signature Law is warning that the more than 3.5 million unmarried couples living together in England and Wales remain almost entirely unprotected by law, and will continue to be for years to come.
The Ministry of Justice consultation, A Fairer End to Relationships, ran from 5 June to 14 August 2026 and proposes some of the most significant changes to family law in decades. It sets out a new statutory framework that would allow qualifying cohabiting couples to make financial claims when they separate, and to inherit where a partner dies without a will.
But Signature Law is cautioning couples against assuming the problem is solved. The consultation is a Green Paper, not a Bill. No legislation has been introduced, the Government has not set a timetable, and reform is widely expected not to take effect before 2028.
Sital Somaiya, Founder and Solicitor at Signature Law, said:
“There is no such thing as common law marriage in England and Wales. There never has been. It makes no difference whether you have been together two years or twenty, whether you own a home together, or whether you have children. If you are not married or in a civil partnership, the law gives you almost no automatic financial protection when that relationship ends.”
She added:
“The consultation closed on 14 August, and the law has not changed. Even in the best case, it will not change overnight. Any couple who separates between now and the day new legislation actually comes into force will be dealt with under the law exactly as it stands today. That is the part people are missing.”
Under the current law, separating cohabitants have no right to maintenance, no right to a share of a partner’s pension, and no automatic right to a share of the family home unless they can establish a legal or beneficial interest in it. Disputes are generally fought in the civil courts under the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996, a route the firm describes as expensive, uncertain, and driven by property ownership rather than by fairness or need.
The consultation proposes that couples would qualify for the new scheme if they have lived together for at least three years or have a child together, with claims subject to a two-year limitation period from separation. The Government has been explicit that the new remedies would be less generous and less easily accessible than those available on divorce, in order to preserve the distinct status of marriage.
Ms Somaiya said:
“We would welcome sensible reform. But nobody should read these proposals as cohabitation becoming the same thing as marriage, because that is not what is on the table. Even if the scheme is enacted as drafted, it is a safety net, not equality.”
Signature Law is encouraging cohabiting couples in Romford, across Essex and in East London to take three practical steps now, regardless of the consultation’s outcome: check how any jointly occupied property is legally owned, put a cohabitation agreement in place, and make or update a will.
“A cohabitation agreement and a will together cost a small fraction of what a contested property dispute costs, in money and in the two or three years of your life it can take,” Ms Somaiya said. “We see people every month who assumed they were protected. They were not.”
On the spokesperson
Sital Somaiya is the founder and director of Signature Law and an experienced broadcast commentator. She has appeared on BBC One’s The One Show and on ITV News, where she commented on England’s largest divorce settlement, involving the ruler of Dubai. She received the Gold Award at the Merton Partnership Civic Pride Volunteer Awards 2023, recognising her volunteering through the South West London Law Centre. She is available for interview, background briefing or written commentary on the consultation proposals.
About Signature Law
Signature Law is a Romford-based law firm specialising in family law, residential and commercial conveyancing, and wills, probate and estate planning. It was founded by solicitor Sital Somaiya, who holds the Law Society’s Family Law Advanced Accreditation. The firm holds Conveyancing Quality Scheme accreditation and Lexcel practice management accreditation, offers legal aid in eligible family matters, and advises clients in a number of languages, including Gujarati, Hindi and Urdu. Signature Law is a trading name of Signature Law Limited, authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority as a Licensed Body, SRA number 832332. Registered in England and Wales, company number 13684385.
Contact Info:
Name: Sital Somaiya, Founder and Solicitor
Email: Send Email
Organization: Signature Law
Address: Charter House, First Floor, 123 South Street, Romford, RM1 1NX
Phone: 01708 398 851
Website: https://signaturelaw.co.uk
Release ID: 89208621
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