Life insurance for unmarried couples matters because, if one partner dies, the other has no automatic right to inherit under the intestacy rules, and the inheritance tax exemption for spouses and civil partners does not reach cohabitants. A payout reaches the surviving partner directly only if the policy is set up that way, through a trust, a joint policy or a policy one partner owns on the other's life, or indirectly through a will.

An FCA-authorised broker can talk through which of those arrangements insurers will take up for your own circumstances. The form on this page books that call-back at no cost.

What does an unmarried partner inherit when there is no will?

GOV.UK's intestacy checker asks where the person who died was domiciled, and for England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland alike it states that a partner who was not married to them or in a civil partnership with them "has no automatic right to inherit".

A cohabitant has court routes, not entitlements.

In England and Wales, the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 lets someone who lived "in the same household as the deceased" as if they were a married couple or civil partners, "during the whole of the period of two years ending immediately before the date when the deceased died", apply for provision. The ground is that the will or the intestacy rules are "not such as to make reasonable financial provision for the applicant". For a cohabitant the court looks at what would be reasonable "for his maintenance", whereas the Act's test for a surviving husband or wife applies "whether or not that provision is required for his or her maintenance". The Act covers a person who "dies domiciled in England and Wales", and without the court's permission no application can be made more than six months after representation (probate or letters of administration) is first taken out, though one can be made before then.

Scotland has its own provision. The Family Law (Scotland) Act 2006 applies where a cohabitant "dies intestate" and was "domiciled in Scotland". The survivor may apply to the court for a capital sum out of the net intestate estate, or for a transfer of property from it. Among the matters the court weighs are the size of the estate and "any benefit received, or to be received, by the survivor", where that comes "from somewhere other than the deceased's net intestate estate". The award cannot exceed what a spouse or civil partner would have received. The application must be made within the period of 6 months beginning with the day of the death. The Trusts and Succession (Scotland) Act 2024 will raise that to 12 when its change comes into force; legislation.gov.uk listed it as not yet in force at 16 October 2026. A cohabitant means one of a couple living together as if husband and wife or as if civil partners, and in deciding whether someone is one the court looks at how long they lived together, the nature of the relationship and any financial arrangements. The route applies only where the deceased died intestate.

Where does the inheritance tax exemption for spouses stop?

GOV.UK's inheritance tax guide says there is normally no tax to pay where an estate is below the £325,000 threshold or where you leave everything above that threshold to your "spouse, civil partner, a charity or a community amateur sports club". The standard rate is 40%, charged on the part above the threshold.

A cohabiting partner is not on that list, however long you have lived together. HMRC's Inheritance Tax Manual says the exemption "applies to transfers between people who are lawfully married to each other at the time of the transfer", and that people "who are living together but not lawfully married, however long the relationship may have lasted (in England, Wales and Northern Ireland)" are not spouses. On Scotland, the manual notes that marriage by cohabitation with habit and repute was abolished by the Family Law (Scotland) Act 2006, though claims based on cohabitation before the Act began can still be admitted.

So an amount left to a cohabiting partner is taxed like any other part of the estate: whether tax is due turns on the estate's size against the threshold, and the exemption that would cover the same amount left to a husband, wife or civil partner does not apply. Thresholds and reliefs change, and this is the general position, not tax advice. How cover is used to meet a bill of this kind is on life insurance for inheritance tax, with the whole of life angle on whole of life insurance and inheritance tax.

Why does this make a life insurance payout matter more?

Because of where the money goes when the person who died owned the policy on their own life and it was not written in trust. GOV.UK's guide to valuing an estate lists life insurance payments among the items to include. Legal & General's claims guide (14 April 2026) says it pays the legal owner of a policy, or the owner's personal representative if the owner has died, and that the payout on a single policy not in trust forms part of the taxable estate and may be liable for inheritance tax.

For an unmarried couple, the two earlier sections meet here. On such a policy the money lands in the estate and the will decides who receives it. With no will, the same insurer's beneficiary guide (18 August 2026) says unmarried partners would not benefit from the payout under the intestacy rules, and a partner left money by will has no spouse exemption to set against any tax. A payout made to trustees, or to a surviving partner who owns the policy, does not reach them through the will or the intestacy rules. Who the beneficiary is in the first place is on what a life insurance beneficiary is.

Which arrangements send a payout to a partner?

Four arrangements come up most often. Each changes who the insurer pays, and so whether the estate is involved at all. Whether you need cover at all is the subject of our who needs cover guide.

A policy written in trust

With a trust, the insurer pays trustees, not the estate. Aviva's life insurance FAQs say it will pay the claim proceeds to the trustees, as long as there is at least one surviving trustee, so it does not need to wait for personal representatives to be appointed. The partner can be named among the trust's beneficiaries; Legal & General says that with its policies you need a trust to name a beneficiary at all. How trusts work is on what a life insurance trust is, the steps are on putting a policy in trust, and the tax treatment is on whether a payout in trust is taxable.

Each partner on their own life

Two single policies mean that each person is both the owner and the person covered. Without a trust, the owner's estate is paid, so the survivor is back at the intestacy and will position described above. So with two single policies, the partner is reached through a trust on each or a will. The choice between one joint policy and two single ones, and how each is assessed, is on joint vs individual life insurance.

A policy on your partner's life

Here you are the owner and your partner is the person covered. Legal & General says a payout is made to the legal owner or owners of a policy, married or not, so the insurer pays you if your partner dies. It needs an insurable interest, which LV= describes as some provable financial loss if the other person died. Its own life insurance, it adds, can only be taken on your own life or as joint life, and taking one out on someone else means speaking to a financial adviser. Who can qualify, and what the other person has to agree to, is on life insurance on someone else.

A joint life policy

A joint policy covers both of you and pays once. LV= says the money is paid to the surviving policy owner unless the policy has been placed in a trust or assigned. The Legal & General claims guide quoted above adds that where a joint policy is not in trust, half of the sum assured would be deemed to form part of the estate of the policyholder who died, which is where the earlier point about the spouse exemption comes in; a tax adviser can say what it means for a particular couple. The same guide says that when the survivor later dies, the lump sum is distributed under that person's will or the intestacy rules. What a joint policy is and when it pays is on what a joint life insurance policy is.

Where does a will fit, and what is worth asking an insurer?

A will can name your partner, but it works through the estate. Aviva's FAQs say that where a policy is not held under trust, you could include instructions about who receives the proceeds in your will, "but this may not provide the same protection against Inheritance Tax". In England and Wales, the 1975 Act's court route also covers a will that fails to make reasonable provision.

Before applying, it helps to have answers to a handful of questions from the insurer or broker:

  • Which trust forms does the insurer offer, and can they be set up when the policy starts?
  • Who will be the policy owner and who the person covered, and does the insurer accept that arrangement for an unmarried couple?
  • Where the policy is joint, what happens to the payout at the first death, and what happens to cover for the survivor afterwards?

A broker can put those questions to insurers for you and check how they would treat a couple who are not married. Use the form on this page for a free call-back.

Frequently asked questions

Can I name my unmarried partner as the beneficiary of my life insurance?

Through a trust, or through a will if the policy is not in trust. Legal & General says you need a trust to name a beneficiary on its policies, so ask any other insurer how it would treat a partner named without one.

Can a domestic partner get joint cover without being married?

Yes. LV= says there is no need to be married or in a civil partnership, provided each of you would suffer a financial loss if the other died. What marriage changes is inheritance and tax, not eligibility.

Sources

  • GOV.UK, Intestacy - who inherits if someone dies without a will? (page updated 16 June 2021), read 20 October 2026. gov.uk/inherits-someone-dies-without-will
  • GOV.UK, How Inheritance Tax works: thresholds, rules and allowances (page updated 8 November 2024), read 20 October 2026. gov.uk/inheritance-tax
  • GOV.UK, How to value an estate for Inheritance Tax and report its value: Estimate the estate’s value (page updated 11 November 2024), read 20 October 2026. gov.uk/valuing-estate-of-someone-who-died
  • HM Revenue & Customs, Inheritance Tax Manual IHTM11032: Spouse or civil partner exemption: definition of spouse and civil partner (updated 7 April 2026), read 20 October 2026. gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/inheritance-tax-manual/ihtm11032
  • Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, sections 1 and 4, read 20 October 2026. section 1; section 4
  • Family Law (Scotland) Act 2006, sections 25 and 29 (up to date to 16 October 2026), read 20 October 2026. section 25; section 29
  • Trusts and Succession (Scotland) Act 2024, section 78 (prospective), read 20 October 2026. legislation.gov.uk
  • Legal & General, Who should be your life insurance beneficiary? (18 August 2026), read 20 October 2026. legalandgeneral.com
  • Legal & General, How do life insurance payouts work? (14 April 2026), read 20 October 2026. legalandgeneral.com
  • Legal & General, Single vs joint life insurance (11 March 2026), read 20 October 2026. legalandgeneral.com
  • LV=, Joint Life Insurance (undated), read 20 October 2026. lv.com
  • LV=, Who can I take out a Life Insurance policy on? (undated), read 20 October 2026. lv.com
  • Aviva, Life insurance FAQs (undated), read 20 October 2026. aviva.co.uk