The latest statistics suggests the number of couples deciding to marry continues to decrease.
The figures from 2015 reflect a continuing trend in declining marriage numbers for all couples except for those over the age of 55. These statistics cause family lawyers concern- often couples don’t realise the legal rights and responsibilities that come with marriage. These rights do not exist for cohabitees, and there is no such thing as a “common law spouse”. Not being married to your partner restricts the claims that can be made on separation (and death in some cases) against property, assets, income and pensions.
If you have any questions about the issues raised in this article please feel free to contact me.
There were 239,020 marriages between opposite-sex couples in 2015, a decrease of 3.4% from 2014 when there 247,372 marriages, and 0.8% lower than in 2013. Marriage rates for opposite-sex couples in 2015 were the lowest on record, with 21.7 marriages per thousand unmarried men and 19.8 marriages per thousand unmarried women. Compared with 2005, marriage rates for opposite-sex couples marrying in 2015 were lower at all ages, except for men aged 65 and over and women aged 55 and over where marriage rates increased.
