The regulation of cohabitants in Scottish succession law

Fyvie, Ellyn Sarah (2016) The regulation of cohabitants in Scottish succession law. LL.M(R) thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

Ten years ago, cohabitants in Scotland had no statutory rights in respect of their deceased partner’s estate. Section 29 of the Family Law (Scotland) Act 2006 gave cohabitants the right to apply to the court for discretionary provision from their deceased partner’s intestate estate. This thesis examines the process of making such an application and the way that the provisions have been applied in practice. The juxtaposition of the Family Law (Scotland) Act 2006 and the existing rules for intestate succession in the Succession (Scotland) Act 1964 is considered, with particular focus on the subordination of cohabitants’ rights to the succession rights of a surviving spouse, and the negative impact that this may have on children. It is concluded that the current succession framework is incapable of protecting cohabitants and children in reconstituted families. Potential measures are considered to displace the traditional primacy of marital succession rights, and provide a fair and flexible system of succession law that is capable of dealing with complex family structures.

• Item Type: Thesis (LL.M(R))
• Qualification Level: Masters
• Keywords: Cohabitation, cohabitant, cohabitants, unmarried, marriage, succession, succession law, property law, intestacy, family, family law, Family Law (Scotland) Act 2006, Succession (Scotland) Act 1964, wills, executry, marriage by cohabitation with habit and repute, cohabitants' claims, prior rights, legal rights, Scottish Law Commission
• Subjects: H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman; K Law > KD England and Wales > KDC Scotland
• Colleges/Schools: College of Social Sciences > School of Law
• Supervisor's Name: McCarthy, Dr. Frankie
• Date of Award: 2016
• Depositing User: Miss Ellyn S. Fyvie
• Unique ID: glathesis:2016-7380
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 02 Jun 2016 11:52
• Last Modified: 28 Jun 2016 13:00
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/7380