Official figures show that unmarried couples living under one roof are the fastest growing family type in the UK, more than doubling from 1.5 million families in 1996 to 3.3 million in 2017.

However, with a growing proportion of people choosing to cohabit without marrying or entering into a civil partnership, it is troubling that misconceptions about the legal rights and protections afforded to cohabitants living in this way are so widespread.

A recent study by Opinium found that more than a third of cohabiting couples don’t understand their legal rights in the event their partner passed away. One in ten unmarried couples living together mistakenly believe that they would automatically receive their partner’s money, property and pension if they died.

These assumptions often stem from the commonly held notion of the ‘common-law marriage’ which suggests that unmarried couples who have lived together for at least two years have much the same legal rights as married couples. This has never been the case, the concept of a common-law marriage is merely a myth with no legal grounding. The Citizen’s Advice Bureau warns: “Although the terms common-law wife or husband are frequently used to describe a couple who live together, these relationships do not have legal recognition. Generally speaking, you will have fewer rights if you're living together than if you're married.”

With this in mind, cohabiting couples may want to consider the possibility of getting married or entering into a civil partnership to receive the automatic benefits which they are currently denied as cohabitants. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why a major overhaul of wedding laws, which have been largely unchanged since 1836, was announced by Chancellor Philip Hammond in his budget on 29 October. This could allow more pubs, restaurant and open-air venues to host weddings and potentially help couples save thousands of pounds on their wedding, as venues which are cheaper to hire would be allowed to host them.

Cohabiting couples don’t just have fewer rights than married couples, they also have fewer state financial protections. For example, the help you can claim for bereavement depends on your relationship with the person who died and depends whether you were married or in a civil partnership or living with your partner.

Cohabiting couples do not qualify for bereavement benefits on their partner’s death and their children will not benefit from their remaining parent receiving widowed parent’s allowance. That’s a situation that has been criticised by numerous campaign groups.

It is worth noting these discrepancies in legal rights apply as much to the surviving partner of engaged couples, who may or may not be cohabiting, that are also afforded no special recognition in law. It is just as important for engaged couples (whether living together or not) to consider what steps they can take to protect themselves.

It’s not just if a partner dies that cohabiting couples face a financial penalty. Research from an investment firm, Hargreaves Lansdown, shows that getting married, and staying married, can provide a pretty substantial bonus.

They have stated that by taking advantage of the numerous tax benefits that are available to married couples – including inheritance tax, a couple married for 30 years could be £183,714 better off, and a couple married for 50 years could be £190,964 better off – even after subtracting the potentially enormous cost of the average wedding.

The most obvious benefit is the marriage allowance, a small but constant perk specifically designed to reward marriage over cohabitation. It allows a partner who doesn’t use their full personal tax-free allowance to transfer a chunk of it to their taxpaying partner – which means a potential saving of over £200 a year.

Married couples can also share assets between them and take advantage of both personal tax allowances, personal savings allowances and dividend allowances. They can reduce their capital gains tax liability on assets held jointly by combining their gains allowance.

On top of that, married couples can inherit their spouse’s ISA investments, without losing the tax break on their cash. They benefit from defined benefit pension death benefits, meaning they typically gain 50 per cent of a deceased spouse’s pension.

Perhaps the biggest break for married couples comes from inheritance tax. A married partner can leave everything to their surviving spouse with no tax to pay, whereas unmarried couples would benefit from the normal allowances, but after that they are likely to pay 40 per cent tax.

Marriage isn’t for everyone and some people prefer not to tie the knot, either way, it’s vital that you review your financial protection to prevent the loss of financial security alongside the loss of your partner. By drawing up a proper will, Deed of Trust, taking out life insurance and having a better understanding of your rights as a cohabiting couple you could reduce the financial risks that you face as a non-married couple.

For further help and advice relating to life insurance for you or your partner contact Essential Insurance on 0800 612 8005.