Why Ricky Gervais Would Marry After 44 Years: The Inheritance Tax Trap for Unmarried Couples (UK)
Ricky Gervais has been with his partner for 44 years. They have shared a home, their money and their whole adult lives. Yet in a recent interview with Saga Magazine, he said that if they ever do marry, inheritance tax will be the reason.
It is not the most romantic proposal you will ever read. But on the tax, he is right, and this is not only a problem for people with his kind of money.
If you have been with your partner for years and never married, you might assume the law treats you as a couple by now. It does not, either when it comes to who inherits or when it comes to Inheritance Tax. In this article I will explain exactly where unmarried couples stand, the problem a Will fixes, and the one it cannot.
There Is No Such Thing as Common Law Marriage
Let's start with the myth. There is no such thing as common law marriage in England and Wales. It makes no difference whether you have lived together for five years or fifty, share a mortgage or raised children together. In law, you are not married, and you do not have the rights a married couple has.
What Happens If an Unmarried Partner Dies Without a Will?
When someone dies without a valid Will, the intestacy rules decide who inherits. Those rules recognise spouses and civil partners. They do not recognise unmarried partners.
So the estate skips straight past your partner. It goes to your children, or if there are none, to your parents, then your brothers and sisters, and on down the family tree. Your partner receives nothing automatically, even if the two of you built everything together.
A surviving partner can ask the court for financial provision under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975. To bring a claim, they generally need to have lived with you as a couple for the two years before your death, or to have been financially maintained by you. Even then, the court can only award what is reasonable for their maintenance. It is a legal claim, made at the worst moment of their life, with no guarantee at the end of it.
Is the Law on Unmarried Couples Changing?
Possibly. The Government's consultation, A Fairer End to Relationships, closed on 14 August 2026. One of its proposals would allow a long-term unmarried partner to inherit automatically when there is no Will.
It is a proposal, not law, and there is no date for it. Just as importantly, nothing in it changes Inheritance Tax.
Inheritance Tax for Unmarried Couples: Why a Will Is Not Enough
Now suppose you have both made Wills leaving everything to each other. Good. Your partner will inherit. But the tax is a different story.
In most cases, anything left to a spouse or civil partner passes free of Inheritance Tax, however large the amount. That spouse exemption does not extend to unmarried partners, however long the relationship.
An Example: David and Susan
David and Susan have lived together for thirty years and never married. David dies, leaving an estate of £700,000, made up of his half of their home plus his savings. His Will leaves everything to Susan.
If they had been married, the Inheritance Tax bill would be nothing, because everything passing to a spouse is exempt.
Because they are not married, David's estate has the standard nil rate band of £325,000 and nothing more. The £175,000 Residence Nil Rate Band, which I call the Home Allowance, does not help either, because it only applies when a home passes to direct descendants such as children and grandchildren. So £375,000 is taxed at 40%. That is a bill of £150,000, landing on someone who has just lost their partner.
Unused Allowances Do Not Transfer Between Unmarried Partners
There is a second hit. Married couples and civil partners can pass any unused nil rate band and Residence Nil Rate Band to each other, so the survivor's estate can benefit from both sets of allowances. Unmarried partners cannot, ever.
So when Susan dies, her estate has only her own allowances, and nothing from David, however much or little he left.
Same couple. Same house. Same thirty years. A £150,000 difference.
What Fixes What
A Will fixes who inherits. If you are not married, it is the single most important thing you can do for your partner. Without one, you are relying on a court claim, or on a change in the law that does not exist yet. A Will also lets you choose who deals with your estate, and gives you the chance to think carefully about how your partner and any children from earlier relationships are each provided for.
But a Will cannot fix the tax. Only marriage or a civil partnership does that, and civil partnerships are open to all couples, not just same-sex couples.
Whether you do either is entirely your call, and it is about far more than tax. I am certainly not here to tell anyone to get married. My job is making sure you know the facts before you decide.
This article is general information about UK estate planning and does not constitute legal or tax advice. Everyone's circumstances are different, so if you would like to talk through yours, we would love to help.
If you would like to chat through your own situation, you can book a free, no-obligation 15-minute call with me. No pressure, no jargon, just a friendly conversation to help you feel more informed.
See our YouTube video on this topic: https://youtu.be/jI8kE7gftsE