Common law wife

oodles; this was a point I made earlier on today. I have met a few Muslim women who are not aware that a nikkah is not legally a marriage and that a civil marriage has to take place. It causes issues as the man can divorce the woman in a religious manner, but the woman can't divorce him or ask for property to be dealt with through the civil divorce courts. Huge problems due to a lack of knowledge on marriage law in the UK.

The problem is if you have living together for say 20 yrs and you want to have a tenancy in common agreement and your partner says no, your only option is to walk out - you have no other option!.
So you either make yourself homeless now, or wait until he dies and face the situation then. I guess it depends how good the relationship is, wether you are working and can afford your own place, how old the children are. At the end of the day if it comes to the worst social housing will put a roof over your head, either way you have to look after your own interests, many of us are not good at that.

Loislovesstewie

In England there is no such thing as common law marriage, the situation in Scotland is different. I don't understand why some still think it exists. If anyone wants the benefits of marriage then get married; a quick register office ceremony does the job but if not then don't complain about not getting those benefits. Sorry to sound harsh, but it does annoy me that people sometimes want things both ways.

The concept of common-law marriage died out in the 1750s

According to CAB Scotland;
There was a type of irregular marriage called 'marriage by cohabitation with habit and repute' which could apply to couples who had lived together and were thought to be married. This was rarely used in practice and, except for very particular circumstances, was abolished by the Family Law (Scotland) Act 2006. Only irregular marriages established before 4 May 2006 are recognised.