Should Family Law Be Changed to Accommodate Changing Marriage Trends?
According to recent figures published by the Office for National Statistics, marriage rates in England and Wales are at their lowest since records began. Different people have their own opinion about what lies behind this trend, but blaming the recession by claiming it must simply be because people cannot afford to marry at the moment is wrong. In fact, this trend is nothing new; marriage has been in steady decline since 1980. More likely explanations for this drop in what was once an institution are our increasingly liberal society and its removal of the stigma associated with unmarried cohabitation and parenting and an increase in education and careers, especially amongst women, causing us to wait longer until we marry. However, like any family law solicitor will tell you, there are definite advantages to being married rather than living together. Such advantages are mainly concerned with money: tax, inheritance and the like, so they’re quite important. There are huge numbers of UK c
