Dying Without a Will: Rights of Long-Term Cohabiting Partners

What rights does a long-term cohabiting partner have when their partner dies without a will?

1England and Wales has no 'common law spouse' concept — a cohabiting partner has no automatic right to inherit regardless of the length of the relationship.
2A cohabiting partner who lived with the deceased as a married couple or civil partners for the whole of the two years immediately before the death may apply to the court under the Inheritance Act 1975 for reasonable financial provision. No proof of financial dependency is needed for that route.
3Joint assets (bank accounts and jointly owned property held as joint tenants) pass by survivorship — outside intestacy — which is often a key financial protection.
4The Inheritance Act 1975 claim must be made within six months of the date letters of administration were first taken out — not from the death, and not from when the partner finds out about the grant.
5The government consulted (5 June to 14 August 2026) on giving cohabitants of three years or more, or with a shared child, automatic intestacy rights in England and Wales. It is a proposal only: no law has changed.
6Scotland is different: a surviving cohabitant can apply to the court under section 29 of the Family Law (Scotland) Act 2006, but only within six months of the death itself, not of the grant.

There is a persistent and damaging myth in England and Wales that couples who have lived together for a long time — sometimes called “common law spouses” — have the same inheritance rights as married couples. They do not. No matter how long you have lived together, without a will, the law treats an unmarried partner as a stranger to the estate.

The Common Law Spouse Myth

The term “common law spouse” has no legal meaning in England and Wales. It is not a recognised status, and it confers no legal rights whatsoever — not in inheritance, not in property, and not in family law.

This is not a quirk or loophole. It is the deliberate state of the law. The intestacy rules under the Administration of Estates Act 1925 list a specific priority order for inheritance, and unmarried partners simply do not appear in that list. It does not matter whether you have lived together for two years or twenty. It does not matter whether you have children together. It does not matter whether you own a home together.

Campaigns to reform this area of law have continued for decades. The government consulted on change in summer 2026 (see below), but as of September 2026 the law has not changed. Scotland does give a surviving cohabitant a route the England and Wales rules do not: section 29 of the Family Law (Scotland) Act 2006 lets a survivor apply to the court for a capital sum or property out of an intestate estate, capped at what a spouse or civil partner would have received, and the application must be made within six months of the death.

For the full picture of what happens when an unmarried partner dies, see our guide to dying without a will as an unmarried partner and our dedicated guide to the rights of unmarried partners.

Who Is Legally Entitled to Inherit?

If the deceased had children, those children inherit the entire estate. If there were no children, parents inherit. If no parents, siblings. And so on down the next-of-kin hierarchy — with the cohabiting partner receiving nothing at any point.

This can mean that:

An estranged adult child inherits ahead of a partner of thirty years
Parents who may not have been in contact for years inherit instead
In the absence of any relatives, the estate passes as bona vacantia to the Crown, or to the Duchy of Lancaster or the Duchy of Cornwall if the deceased lived in those areas — see our guide on dying without a will and no relatives

For the full intestacy overview, see our main intestacy guide.

What Can a Long-Term Partner Claim?

The Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 provides the main legal route for a cohabiting partner to claim against the estate. Section 1 sets out several categories of person who may apply, and they are alternatives — you need to fall into one of them, not all of them.

Routes into a 1975 Act Claim

As a cohabitant (section 1(1)(ba)). You lived in the same household as the deceased, as if you were a married couple or civil partners, for the whole of the two years immediately before the death — continuously in the final two years, not two years at some earlier point. This route does not require you to show you were financially dependent
As someone being maintained (section 1(1)(e)). If the two-year period is not met, a person who was being maintained by the deceased, wholly or partly, immediately before the death may apply on that footing instead
The claim must be made within six months of the date on which letters of administration were first taken out (section 4). The court can extend that period, but it does not have to

Financial dependency is not a gateway condition for a cohabitant, but your needs and resources are among the things the court weighs when deciding what provision is reasonable.

If you qualify, the court has wide discretion. It considers:

The claimant's financial needs and resources
The financial needs of all other beneficiaries
The size and nature of the estate
The obligations the deceased had to all parties
Any physical or mental disability of the claimant or other beneficiaries
Any other matter the court considers relevant

Importantly, the court awards reasonable financial provision— defined as what is reasonable for the applicant's maintenance. This is a lower standard than the full inheritance a spouse would receive. It might mean an income stream or a lump sum, but it is unlikely to replicate what a well-drafted will would have provided.

Who Has the Right to Apply for Letters of Administration?

As a cohabiting partner, you have no automatic right to apply for letters of administration. The right belongs to the beneficiaries under intestacy — children, parents, siblings. A 1975 Act claim does not give you the right to take the grant yourself. Because the six-month clock runs from the date the grant is issued, and you may not be told when that happens, GOV.UK's Find a will service lets you check whether a grant has been issued.

This can be deeply difficult — particularly if the deceased's family is hostile or uncooperative. In some cases, families move quickly to administer and distribute the estate before a partner can act, and the six-month clock runs from the grant regardless.

See our guide to applying for letters of administration.

What Happens to the Family Home?

The family home is the most urgent concern for most cohabiting partners. The outcome depends on how it is owned.

Joint Tenants

If the home is owned as joint tenants, the deceased's share passes automatically to the surviving partner by right of survivorship — regardless of intestacy, regardless of the will (or lack of one). This is the single most important protection for cohabiting couples. If you own jointly, check urgently whether you are joint tenants or tenants in common.

Tenants in Common

If the home is held as tenants in common (or solely in the deceased's name), the deceased's share forms part of the estate and passes to the next-of-kin under intestacy. The surviving partner could face losing their home — the new co-owners (children, parents, siblings) could apply to court for an order for sale.

A sale is not automatic. Under the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996 the court decides an application for sale by weighing matters that include the purposes for which the property is held and the circumstances of anyone occupying it, so the outcome depends on the facts.

See our guide on dying without a will with a joint mortgage.

What About Joint Assets?

Joint bank accounts and jointly held savings pass by survivorship to the surviving partner — outside intestacy entirely. This is an important practical protection.

Life insurance policies written in trust with the partner named as beneficiary also pass directly outside the estate. If you are a cohabiting partner and your partner has died, check any life insurance policies immediately — if you are named as beneficiary, make the claim directly with the insurer.

Pension death benefits are discretionary — the pension trustees decide. Make sure you have submitted a nomination of beneficiaries (expression of wishes) form and that the trustees are aware of your relationship.

Practical Steps If Your Partner Has Just Died

Note the deadline. The six-month clock on a 1975 Act claim starts running from the date letters of administration are first taken out — which can happen without you being told.
Check the property ownership. Obtain the title register from the Land Registry. If it says “beneficial joint tenants”, the property is yours by survivorship.
Check jointly held bank accounts. Contact the bank with the death certificate to have accounts consolidated in your name.
Claim any life insurance. If you are named as beneficiary on any policies, contact the insurer directly.
Contact the pension provider. If you are named as preferred beneficiary, make your circumstances known to the trustees.
Document your financial relationship. Preserve bank statements, bills in joint names, evidence of shared expenses — all of this supports a 1975 Act claim.
Engage with the deceased's family carefully. Try to maintain a cooperative relationship — contested litigation is expensive and stressful.

How to Avoid This in Future: Making a Will

The only truly reliable protection for a cohabiting partner is a valid will. Even a simple will that leaves the estate to the partner provides far more certainty than any reliance on the 1975 Act.

Beyond a will, couples should also:

Check that jointly owned property is held as joint tenants
Take out life insurance written in trust with the partner named as beneficiary
Complete pension nomination forms naming the partner as preferred beneficiary
Consider whether marriage or civil partnership is right for their circumstances — it provides much stronger legal protection

See our guide to writing a will in the UK in 2026.

What the government is proposing — and why nothing has changed yet

On 5 June 2026 the Ministry of Justice opened a consultation, A fairer end to relationships, which closed on 14 August 2026. For England and Wales it asked whether “qualifying cohabitants” — couples who have lived together for at least three years, or who share a child — should inherit automatically when a partner dies without a valid will; whether the two-year qualifying period for an Inheritance Act 1975 claim should be removed where the couple had children together; and whether a qualifying cohabitant's right to administer the estate should match any new entitlement.

It is a consultation, not a law. No share of the estate has been fixed, no Bill has been published, and the government has said only that legislation will follow “when parliamentary time allows”. As of September 2026 the rules on this page apply unchanged. Joint assets, pension nominations and life insurance in trust still pass outside the intestacy rules; a will remains the reliable way to change who inherits the rest.

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