Penny Booth: Relationships, relationships

I see that there are rumblings about cohabitants not having legal support - thank goodness for the dear judge because it would appear that we need to remind the coalition government that something has to be done about the position of cohabitants. This is particularly important for the financially weaker party and the Law Commission's excellent work in 2006-7 ought not to go to waste. I do not think that giving some recognition to longer-standing relationships or ones where there are children of the relationship in order to provide legal protection in defined circumstances will undermine marriage. It may make marriage/ civil partnership an attractively straightforward option actually. After all if you want to marry you will and Lady Hale's comments in the Radmacher judgment in November 2010 clearly show some judicial support for marriage (and for marriage read civil partnership?) -a legally recognised state on which judges have frequently commented as a personal state worth utilising for bringing up children.

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