The most recent census in the Isle of Man indicated that approximately 4000 people live together and by doing so they do not share similar rights and legal protections as married couples. Some of them may not realise this.
There is no such thing as a “common law marriage” in Manx law. Couples who live together but who are not married or in a civil partnership have very few of the rights that married couples or those in civil partnerships automatically have. This is equally true for heterosexual unmarried couples and same-sex couples who cohabit.
This means a couple who cohabit but who are not married or civil partners have virtually no protection on relationship breakdown unless they have an agreement in place. The law does not allow the court to try to achieve a fair settlement between former cohabitees, as it would with former spouses or civil partners. There is no legal provision for the payment of maintenance for the support of one of the parties after such a relationship breakdown. Maintenance claims can be made in respect of children, but these will end when the children leave home.
If there is no agreement in place and if one of you has built up savings and acquired possessions using his/her own money, he/she may be entitled to walk away from the relationship with all of those savings and possessions.
Read the full article here: Common Law Marriage: An Old Wives’ Tale