Estate Planning Solutions For Common Law Couples

Colloquially, the term 'common law marriage' is used to describe the relationship of a man and a woman who live together as husband and wife without having gone through a legal ceremony of marriage.

The non-recognition, in Bermuda, of common law marriage – however long-standing or permanent the relationship – is a striking example of public policy designed to uphold the sanctity of marriage by the total denial of intestate succession rights to unmarried cohabitants in Bermuda.

In the case of unmarried cohabitants, the surviving partner will have no claims, under Bermuda intestacy rules, to the estate of the deceased partner. There is no statutory remedy in Bermuda law, as there is for such persons in the United Kingdom (UK) under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, as amended by the Law Reform (Succession) Act 1995.