No ring, no rights – what every unmarried couple should know

This has significant implications in South Africa, where only 23,8% of individuals were legally married in 2022 (down from 35,6% in 1996). Statistics SA found that the proportion of people who have never married also increased over the same period from 52,8% to 61,7%.

Those who do marry are also marrying later in life. In 2014, most brides were aged 25 to 29. By 2023, the most common age bracket for newlywed women had shifted to 30 to 34 years. The shift away from conventional marital structures is clear.

For unmarried couples who live together, the only true legal protection comes in the form of a valid, signed will. If an individual dies without a will (the legal term is ‘intestate’), their unmarried partner has no automatic right to inherit. Although the Constitutional Court has created limited exceptions for ‘marriage-like’ life partnerships, in terms of intestate succession the law follows a hierarchy of blood relatives, and unmarried partners are not on that list.

So, no matter how long you’ve been living together, if you pass away without a will, your cohabiting partner is, in the eyes of South Africa’s Intestate Succession Act, treated no differently from a friend, with no right of inheritance. This can create all sorts of unpleasantness: claims, counterclaims and legal challenges.

The question of civil unions can create confusion in this context. Under the Civil Union Act, this is a legally recognised partnership between two people, regardless of gender, that gives the couple the same rights, responsibilities and legal protection as a marriage. This gives same-sex relationships the same legal footing as heterosexual relationships – and in both cases, if the civil union is not formally registered, the law treats the partners as unmarried. In that case, if your relationship partner dies without a will, you have no claim to any of their assets, including when they own or part-own the home you’ve been living in together.

Some unmarried couples draw up a cohabitation agreement, but this does not have the legal authority to leave or pass on assets such as money, property or possessions to someone after you die. Because it is not a will. If you want to bequeath assets that you have acquired – either individually or jointly in your cohabitation relationship – you must draw up a will.

Similarly, an unmarried partner has no automatic claim as a beneficiary of their cohabiting partner’s pension fund. In terms of the Pension Funds Act, trustees will determine whether the surviving partner was factually and financially dependent on the deceased pension fund member. A cohabiting partner can be allocated a portion of the benefit if dependency is proven, but this does not happen automatically. Each case is judged on merit.