Deathbed marriages soaring in bid to dodge inheritance tax

Deathbed marriages have soared in popularity with more couples using their final moments together to say ‘I do’ in order to dodge hefty inheritance tax bills.

To have a last minute marriage or civil partnership, you have to apply for a registrar general’s licence.

The process is speedy and can be done within a day, allowing a ceremony to take place in offbeat places such as at home, in a hospice or in hospital.

In the 12 months up to the end of June this year there were 836 licences issued for deathbed marriages, according to data published by the General Registrar’s Office.

That’s a whopping 49 per cent increase on the decade before which saw 561 licences handed out between June 2014 and June 2015.

Experts have suggested the trend could be down to an uptick in couples choosing to cohabit.

Between 2021 and 2022, the number of cohabiting couples jumped from 5.4 million to 6.8 million people – an increase of around 25 per cent, according to data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS).

Alison Fernandes, a partner at Hall Brown family law solicitors, believes the rise in cohabitation is linked to the increasing popularity of deathbed marriages.

She explained how people who are cohabiting are pushed into last minute nuptials when the reality hits that the partner who survives them will have to pay inheritance tax or miss out on a widow’s pension if they don’t tie the knot.

‘The numbers of cohabitees are on the rise and where one of the partners in these couples is terminally ill, it’s becoming increasingly the case that all of a sudden they want to get married quickly,’ she told The Times.

However, she noted that there are some pensions, mainly occupational ones, that do not pay out a widow’s pension to a cohabiting spouse and will only pay it to a husband or wife.

Current inheritance laws allow married couples and civil partners to inherit each other’s estate without paying any tax.

Unmarried couples are hit with inheritance tax at 40 per cent on any assets over £325,000.

Ms Fernandes said whilst cohabiting seems like the nicer option for many people, they often don’t realise that marriage is financially a ‘no-brainer’.

Harry Benson, from the Marriage Foundation think tank, said cohabiting couples are starting to understand that the financial rights that transfer at the point of death do not apply to unmarried, cohabiting couples.

‘But I think it’s a huge shame that people don’t realise at a younger age that they have a whole raft of financial and legal rights which can be acquired with the cheapest and most powerful legal document there is, namely a marriage certificate,’ he told The Times.

One famous example of a last-minute wedding saved the bride losing almost £11million.

Comedian Sir Ken Dodd married his long-term partner Anne Jones just days before he died aged 90 in 2018.

Because he was child-free, Anne inherited his entire £27.8 million fortune completely tax-free – saving her from the £11 million loss.