law spot
Porker pignapped
Is it true a ‘Common Law Marriage’ means nothing in law? Law Spot provided by Harold G Walker Solicitors Cath Porter, Partner and Head of Family Law
There are about 3.3 million unmarried couples currently living together in the UK. That is about one family in five, and this is also the fastest growing family type. There are many reasons for choosing not to get married, but many unmarried couples do not realise that they are leaving themselves in a precarious financial position. This is because many of these couples mistakenly believe that if a couple lives together for long enough, or after they have had children together, that they will each automatically have the same legal rights and responsibilities as a married couple if they later split up or one of them dies without leaving a will. Whilst unmarried parents do have legal and financial obligations towards any child they have together, the same does not apply between the parents themselves. However, there are steps which cohabiting couples can take to protect themselves from any problems arising from separation: Cohabitation Agreement – This records the couple’s intentions concerning property and other financial support for their children if they separate. Declaration of Trust – This records how the equity in a property, should be shared between a couple even if their financial contributions are not equal. Make a Will – This details how financial support will be provided to the survivor on the death of their partner. For further information please contact a member of the Family Law team. Law Spot is provided for information only and does not constitute legal advice. For more information on this subject contact your solicitor or the Family Law team at Harold G Walker who will be pleased to help.
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VIEWPOINT February 2019
Hamburglars trotted off with a life-size silhouette of a pig that had been touring the New Forest to raise awareness of animal road accidents. The three-foot swine was pignapped in Fawley last month, leaving just a pony, cow, donkey and sheep to raise awareness of animal road deaths. Recently-released figures show that 63 animals were killed on the roads in 2018, an increase of 13% compared to 2017. This makes this winter’s campaign by New Forest commoners particularly important. Commoning families own animals that graze the Forest. “Pigs are particularly vulnerable on the roads,” says Tony Hockley, chairman of the Commoners Defence Association. “In the autumn pannage season they eat the acorns that are poisonous to other animals. We’re appealing to local people to have a good poke around for our porker, and we’ll put up a reward of New Forest pannage pork to anyone who gives information leading to the return of our pig.”
Fair builds on recordbreaking year Hot on the heels of a record year for volunteering in the National Park, the New Forest Volunteer Fair returned on 27 January. Volunteers have contributed almost 20,000 hours to help care for the New Forest over the last year. Their achievements include preserving historical documents, bringing habitats back to life and helping young people experience the great outdoors. Now thoughts are turning to making 2019 the biggest year of volunteering yet as part of the government’s Year of Green Action. The year-long event also marks 70 years since the UK’s National Parks were first established.
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