Cohabitation Rights Reform — What Unmarried Partners Need to Know About the June 2026 Consultation

by johnireland | Legal Spotlight

What Is Happening? On 5 June 2026, the Ministry of Justice published a consultation proposing that qualifying cohabitants should receive automatic inheritance rights under the intestacy rules in England and Wales. Currently, unmarried partners have no right to inherit...

Cohabitation and Inheritance — The Legal Gap That Catches Millions of Couples

by johnireland | Legal Spotlight

More than 3.6 million couples in England and Wales live together without being married — and most have no idea how little legal protection they have if one of them dies. There is no such thing as “common law marriage” in English law. If your partner dies...

Shareholder Agreements That Fail During Family Succession

by johnireland | Legal Spotlight

Many shareholder agreements are written for commercial disputes rather than family succession. The result is uncertainty precisely when ownership transitions become emotionally sensitive and strategically important. A shareholder agreement often sits quietly in the...

How to Set Up Trusts in the UK

by | Legal Spotlight

If you own property, run a business, or have built up savings you want passed on properly, learning how to set up trusts is less about paperwork and more about control. A trust can help ringfence assets, protect vulnerable beneficiaries, reduce the risk of disputes...

Personal Guarantees: The Liability That Survives Business Success

by johnireland | Legal Spotlight

Business growth often depends on personal guarantees during expansion phases. Years later, many successful owners forget these liabilities still exist, creating significant estate and succession complications. Expansion capital frequently arrives with conditions...

Charitable Legacy in a Will Explained

by | Legal Spotlight

A charitable legacy in a will is often one of the clearest ways to support a cause you care about after your lifetime, but it needs careful wording if it is to work as intended. For many people, especially those with property, business interests or a wider family...