IHT benefits could extend to co-habitants

For a childless unmarried couple in a relationship for between two and five years the bereaved partner should inherit half the estate with the rest going to parents or siblings, says Professor Elizabeth Cooke in her consultation paper Current inheritance tax guidelines say a surviving partner in a marriage can inherit their deceased spouse's entire estate tax-free, but unmarried couples have no automatic rights to a partner's estate. The paper Intestacy and Family Provision Claims on Death argues change in the law is needed to keep up with social changes, in particular the introductio...