THE GOVERNMENT has been urged to scrap legislation that will introduce legal rights for unmarried couples who separate because it will provide a “bonanza” for lawyers as couples look to secure a share of each other’s wealth.
Under the proposed laws, former live-in partners could be made to pay divorce-style maintenance or give a share of their property to a dependent partner.
The scheme will apply to both opposite sex and same-sex unmarried couples who have been living together for three years, or two years in the case of a cohabiting couple with children.
This “safety net” redress scheme forms part of the Civil Partnership Act, which is due to return before an Oireachtas committee tomorrow for debate.
Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern says the legislation is aimed at providing improved legal and financial protection for vulnerable and financially dependent cohabitants in the event of death or the break-up of a relationship.
Couples may opt out of the scheme if they draw up a legally binding cohabitants’ agreement to regulate their financial affairs.
However, Ruth Deech, professor of law at London’s Gresham College, said the Irish law was set to be a “windfall for lawyers but for no one else except the gold-digger”. She said it was wrong to impose the penalties of a “failed marriage” on couples who may be trying out their relationship before marrying.
“There should be a corner of freedom where couples may escape family law with all its difficulties. Cohabitation is not marriage, now or historically,” said Prof Deech, a vocal critic of regulating domestic partnerships.
While most family lawyers and academics here broadly welcome plans to protect vulnerable cohabitants, many have serious concerns over the detail.
UCC law professor John Mee said the aspects of the Bill relating to cohabiting couples should be scrapped, as they could do more damage than good.
“The well-meaning, but seriously flawed, redress scheme should be scrapped and any immediate reform should be targeted on specific areas such as succession and taxation,” he said.
“This kind of limited scheme may create a false sense of security for cohabitants, who may assume that the new law will protect them and fail to take steps to safeguard their separate property rights,” Prof Mee said.
Muriel Walls, a family lawyer with McCann Fitzgerald, who was involved in a Law Reform Commission document on the issue, broadly welcomed the proposed laws.
She said the legislation was flexible enough that if a couple wanted to live together is a “casual, non-legal situation”, they could opt out of the system by drawing up a cohabitants’ agreement.
“The motto is that living with someone is not a legal free zone – there are consequences to it, ” said Ms Walls.