This petition was submitted during the 2015-2017 parliament
Petition Improve rights of cohabiting unmarried women after a relationship breakdown
A married woman forced to leave her husband due to domestic violence is generally entitled to 50% of the couple's assets whereas an unmarried woman is entitled to nothing other than pitiful maintenance payments for her children but nothing for herself.
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It is ridiculous that, in this day and age, just because a cohabiting couple have not gone through a 30 minute marriage ceremony, the entitlement after a split to the assets they have accumulated together is completely different than in the case of if they are married. Invariably the woman, who often will be forced to leave with her children due to her partner's behaviour, will lose out. Scotland changed its laws in 2005 to give equal protection for cohabiting women, so why can't we do the same?
This petition closed early because of a General Election Find out more on the Petitions Committee website
8 signatures
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10,000 signatures required to get a government response