Committee publication · Correspondence · 17 June 2026
Correspondence from The Baroness Levitt KC Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice, re Cohabitation and financial remedies reform consultation, dated 04.06.2026
Summary
The Baroness Levitt announces a Government public consultation on 'A Fairer End to Relationships', launching 5 June 2026, proposing reforms to financial remedies on divorce, protections for cohabitants on separation, and inheritance rights. The consultation responds to the Committee's 2022 cohabitation report and Law Commission recommendations, addressing gendered inequalities in divorce outcomes and the vulnerability of 3.5 million cohabiting couples.
Key findings
- Government proposes 'codification-plus' model for financial remedies, codifying 'sharing' and 'needs' principles in legislation with equal division as court starting point, addressing disproportionate adverse outcomes for women including pension asset oversight (only 11% of divorcees arrange pension-sharing).
- Cohabitation reform would create automatic opt-out framework of rights for couples living together 3+ years or sharing a child, with court beginning from position that each keeps what they legally own, departing only to meet defined needs.
- Inheritance proposals extend intestacy rights to qualifying cohabitants, providing automatic inheritance where partner dies without valid will.
- Consultation will explicitly consider domestic abuse, including economic abuse, as factor in assessing financial needs for both married couples and cohabitants.
- Government intends to hold series of roundtables with practitioners, academics and civil society organisations during consultation period.
Tone
ProceduralTopics
family-lawgender-equalitycohabitation-rightsfinancial-remediesdomestic-abuse
Key actors
Baroness Levitt KC, Sarah Owen MP, Women and Equalities Committee, Law Commission, Fair Shares Project
Notable line
“The current law can also lead to outcomes which are disproportionately adverse to women.”
Key Quotes
“The Law Commission's 2024 scoping report on financial remedies on divorce and dissolution found that the current law can produce unpredictable outcomes and, in some cases, prolong conflict at an already difficult time.”
“The Fair Shares Project found that only 11% of divorcees make a pension- sharing arrangement, despite pensions being among the most valuable assets many couples own.”
“More than 3.5 million couples live together without getting married or entering a civil partnership, more than double the number thirty years ago.”
“… the incidence of domestic abuse is twice as high for cohabitants as it is for married couples.”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗