Mindset Money Success: Property Rights and Economic Abuse in the UK and Spain

Intro In this episode of Mindset Money Success, host Loraine Marshall shares a deeply personal and legal look into the world of cohabitation through an excerpt from her upcoming book, After the Discard - No Divorce Required. Loraine explores the "sudden termination" of relationships, the discard, and the precarious legal positions many women find themselves in when living together without the protections of marriage. Drawing from her own harrowing experience in Spain and the UK, she discusses the gaps in current laws regarding property, inheritance, and the systemic reality of economic abuse.

4 Best Moments

• The Reality of the Discard: Loraine recounts her personal experience of being "discarded" in Spain, left in a property she helped build but was not legally named on, eventually facing the termination of her water and electricity.
• The "Ravine" in the Law: A striking look at how current legislation fails to recognise non-earning contributions, such as homemaking and caretaking, leaving women disproportionately disadvantaged during a breakup.
• The Universal Tactics of Abuse: Loraine explains that while legal borders exist, the tactics of an abuser, specifically the systemic dismantling of a partner's financial security, are universal across the UK, Spain, and beyond.
• The Double-Edged Sword of "No Divorce Required": The realisation that while an abuser doesn’t need a courtroom to end a cohabiting relationship, the survivor is also denied the automatic asset-division protections that a divorce court provides.

4 Key Takeaways

• Trust is Not a Legal Contract: Many couples live their relationships on trust, but without a cohabitation agreement or being named on property deeds, that trust offers zero legal protection if the relationship ends or a partner dies.
• The Cohabitation Gap in the UK: There are no automatic rights to property, pensions, or inheritance for cohabiting couples, regardless of the length of the relationship or the number of children.
• Navigating Spanish Law: Couples in Spain can register as a pareja de hecho (civil union) to gain some legal recognition, but this does not automatically guarantee any property or asset claims.
• Economic Abuse Recognition: While the UK Domestic Abuse Act 2021 finally recognises economic abuse as a statutory crime, civil and cohabitation laws still lag, often failing to provide the financial remedies needed for survivors to survive after leaving.

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