Congratulations to you if you were one of the lucky people who got engaged over Christmas and New Year! We wish all the happy couples a long and happy life together.

When planning a wedding, a solicitor might not be an obvious person to contact but fundamentally getting married is entering into a legal contract, and it is really hard to get out of it once you have made your vows.

The legal contract of marriage is given such a high status in Scottish Law that the contract can only be ended by the death of a spouse or an order made by a court, even if you both agree everything. When you get married you agree to be bound by rights and responsibilities which are not listed in the traditional wedding vows. These can include:

• An obligation to pay maintenance to your spouse
• An obligation to share the assets and liabilities (for example your house, savings, pensions and credit card debt) acquired during the marriage, even if these are not jointly owned
• Automatic inheritance rights in favour of your spouse on your death

Even choosing to live together, called cohabitation in Scottish Law, can create limited rights and responsibilities to make a claim on each other should the relationship end.

Given the fundamental legal changes saying “I do” can make to your life, taking legal advice could save a huge amount of money and stress in the future. We can help you consider potential pitfalls and help insure your risks. This might be particularly important if you have children from a previous relationship or if you have an inheritance or gift of money you want to put towards a joint asset like a family home.

When you get married, your relationship will hopefully be at a particularly strong point when you can talk to each other about anything, even the hard issues like separation or death. No one has a crystal ball so consider whether taking some advice before you married could protect you both in the future.

Please contact our office to make an appointment to speak with one of our dedicated family solicitors. It is never too early to take precautionary advice!