Does Being Married Make A Difference?

[Betula]

My partner and I are engaged, but aren't going to be getting married for ages. Does the fact that we are not married have an effect on any legal or benefit related things once the baby is born?
The reason I ask is because my mother keeps commenting that we should get married before it's born, and her reason is that it might make legal matters difficult if we don't. I know that in reality she just worries about what other people might think, and also she's a Christian. But it did make me wonder if it will make a difference to us.

 

[Suzie and Faith]

Benefits-wise it shouldn't make a difference. You have to chose whose name certain things are in i.e. child benefit but things like child tax credits can be in 2 names.
You don't get more for being married but i think it'd make a difference if you didn't live together.

Marriage should be a personal choice so no need to rush it

 

[lauramumof2]

I dont think it does make a difference. As long as you are living together as partners they take into consideration your joint income for the home.

If you dont want to get married before baby comes then dont. Its up to you.

 

[Betula]

That's good to hear. I had no intention of getting married until we wanted to anyway, I think it's mainly due to laziness that we haven't yet. But now we're thinking of waiting maybe 3 years or so; it would be nice for the baby to be involved somehow when it's a bit older.

 

[maybebaby]

As far as I know it doesn't make a difference to benefits whether you're married or just living together. However you will need to make sure you make a will to make sure everything is clear custody/money wise if anything happens to you

 

[nori]

you will need to make sure you make a will to make sure everything is clear custody/money wise if anything happens to you

I agree with this 100%. I looked into it and if you dont have a will things could get VERY messy for your OH. Mine is all done. A lot of poeple hate thinking about death etc.. but i beleive its so important to have things in place.

Claire x

 

[kalia]

OH and I are not married and the only time that has affected anything is that DD has his last name but in hospital the baby has to have mum's last name - so her little red book has her name wrong and then corrected.

 

[LisaJ1986]

I didn't know this til Angel was a couple of weeks old, but once the OH is on the birth certificate he has some rights. Like mum's consent is not needed for injections and stuff. But i wasn't aware of this until after we had her registered.

 

[Sherlock]

Its what you choose to do when registering the birth that will have implications. By that I mean once you name the father etc they have legal rights more easily than if not named and contesting etc. Your OH will have to attend to register the birth with you if you are not married if he wishes to be on the birth certificate iirc. If he is then he has legal rights. If not he can apply to be after but it can make things awkward.

Also you need to decide on what surname your child will have.

You can google all the info you need on it easily enough. Or ask at your local registrars office.

 

[trixipaws]

we're not married and we get child benefit and child tax credit- they work it out based on ur financial situation as a couple- marriage would make no difference whatsoever. if we lived apart then yes it would make a difference.

when melissa was first born she had my surname on the letters from hospital etc it was really weird! when we had her registered i HAD to take my boyf in order to get his name on the certificate, apparently married women can put their hubby's names on without the hubby being there.

the register lady made it very clear to me that until i registered melissa i had 100% parental rights and if i chose to put my boyf's name on the certificate i would be giving him 50% parental rights the tone of the way she said it was to think very carefully as i would then have no more legal rights over my baby than him, but i'd been with my boyf several years and living together so we are as good as married, and it was a joint decision to keep the baby and everything so i did not hesitate to sign the papers.

since she was one week old melissa's had my boyf's surname.

 

[Betula]

That's grand. My OH will be there for the birth certificate and I think the baby will just go by his surname. No point in going for mine when we are going to get married at some point anyway. Also, a will would be a good idea, I hadn't thought of that.
Thanks for all the comments, they have really helped a lot