Protection Planning for Same-Sex Couples and Civil Partners

The Legal Framework in the United Kingdom

Marriage equality legislation has fundamentally transformed the legal landscape for same-sex couples in the United Kingdom:

• England and Wales: Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 — marriages legally recognised from March 2014
• Scotland: Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2014 — marriages legally recognised from December 2014
• Northern Ireland: Extended to Northern Ireland from January 2020, following court rulings

Civil partnerships have been available to same-sex couples since the Civil Partnership Act 2004. From December 2019, civil partnerships were extended to opposite-sex couples as well.

For all domestic UK financial planning purposes — including inheritance tax, pension death benefits, life insurance nominations, and estate planning — legally married same-sex couples have identical rights to opposite-sex married couples. Similarly, civil partners have broadly equivalent rights to married couples in most domestic financial planning contexts.

This is not a minor technical point. The spousal exemption from inheritance tax — which allows an unlimited transfer between spouses without IHT — applies equally to same-sex marriages. The ability to nominate a spouse as the beneficiary of a pension death benefit, with the favourable tax treatment that entails, applies equally. The legal presumption of mutual financial dependency in estate planning applies equally.

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Insurance Planning: Where Practice Has Caught Up with Law

UK insurance products — life assurance, critical illness, income protection, and similar — are now routinely available to same-sex couples on identical terms to opposite-sex couples. Joint life policies can be written on two lives of any gender combination. Nominations can be made to any beneficiary. Policy trusts can name any beneficiary.

In practice, an experienced protection adviser will handle the planning of a same-sex couple's protection portfolio identically to that of any other couple, with the same products, the same structures, and the same financial analysis. If you encounter an adviser who suggests otherwise, or who seems unfamiliar with the application of standard protection products to same-sex couples, that is a signal to find a different adviser.

The areas where some additional thought is required are primarily international — which are addressed in the sections below.

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Pension and Protection Nominations

Life insurance policies and pension schemes require the policyholder or scheme member to nominate the person to whom benefits are paid on death. Nominations should be reviewed regularly to ensure they reflect current circumstances.

Life insurance nominations: UK life insurance policies typically allow the policyholder to nominate any person as beneficiary. For policies written in trust, the trustee determines payment based on the trust terms. For policies not in trust, the nomination is an expression of preference but the death benefit technically forms part of the estate (subject to the insurer's discretion in some cases). For same-sex couples, there is no legal distinction.

Pension death benefits: Pension schemes — both defined benefit and defined contribution — pay death benefits at the trustees' discretion, guided by expression-of-wishes forms. The spousal IHT treatment for pension death benefits (formerly, benefits passing to a spouse could be paid as a pension free of IHT; the regime changed somewhat following 2024 announcements on pensions and IHT — advice should be sought) requires a legally recognised marriage. Same-sex marriages qualify for this treatment; civil partnerships also qualify in most cases.

Regular review of nominations: Nominations should be reviewed when circumstances change — relationship formation, marriage, civil partnership registration, separation, divorce, or the birth of children. An outdated nomination — for example, a nomination from a previous relationship left unchanged after entering a same-sex marriage — can have unintended consequences. This is a concern for all couples, regardless of orientation, but is worth noting specifically for any individual who has had more than one significant relationship.

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Inheritance Tax Planning for Same-Sex Couples

The spousal exemption from UK inheritance tax — which allows an unlimited transfer of assets between legally married spouses without IHT, both during lifetime and on death — applies fully to same-sex married couples.

This means:

• On the death of the first partner in a married same-sex couple, assets can pass to the surviving spouse without IHT
• The deceased's unused nil-rate band and residence nil-rate band can be transferred to the surviving spouse for use on the second death
• Gifts between living spouses are exempt from IHT (no cap on the lifetime spousal exemption)

For same-sex couples who are not married but cohabiting — a common situation for couples who did not wish to formalise their relationship through civil partnership or marriage — none of these exemptions apply. Two long-term partners who are not married have no spousal exemptions; each partner's estate is assessed independently on death.

Cohabiting same-sex couples in long-term relationships may face significant IHT exposure that would not apply to married couples. If this applies to you, this is an important planning consideration — both whether to formalise the relationship and how to structure assets in the meantime.

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Wills and Succession: Essential for All Couples

For any couple — married, civil-partnered, or cohabiting — a professionally drafted will is essential. The rules of intestacy (the distribution of an estate where there is no valid will) may not reflect your wishes, and they apply differently to different relationship types.

For a married same-sex couple, intestacy rules do provide for the surviving spouse — but the share the surviving spouse receives under intestacy may not reflect your actual intentions, particularly where there are children (from the relationship or from a previous relationship), parents, or other family members.

For a civil partner or cohabiting couple, intestacy can create significant problems. While a civil partner has some intestacy rights, a cohabiting partner with no legal marriage or civil partnership has no automatic succession rights under intestacy — regardless of the length and character of the relationship.

In all cases, a properly drafted will — reviewed by a solicitor experienced in the relevant jurisdiction — is the foundation of good estate planning.

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The International Dimension: Where Recognition Varies

For same-sex couples who live or retire internationally, or who have assets in multiple countries, the legal picture changes substantially.

Countries that fully recognise same-sex marriage (as of 2026) include most of Western Europe (including Spain — a popular expat destination), Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, much of Latin America, and Taiwan. In these countries, a UK same-sex marriage will generally be recognised for legal purposes including succession, inheritance, and insurance.

Countries with civil union or registered partnership recognition — typically providing similar but not identical rights to marriage — include some Eastern European countries and several other jurisdictions.

Countries that do not legally recognise same-sex relationships include many countries in the Middle East (including the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Kuwait), much of Africa, several Southeast Asian countries, Russia, and others. In these countries:

• A UK same-sex marriage is not legally recognised
• There is no legal concept of a same-sex spouse for succession purposes
• Local succession law may distribute assets to blood relatives regardless of the deceased's wishes, unless alternative planning is in place

The UAE is specifically relevant to many of our clients — it is a major expat destination for high earners, particularly in finance, energy, and technology. Same-sex relationships are not legally recognised in the UAE, and couples should be aware that any legal structures relying on spousal recognition would not function under UAE law.

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Planning for Non-Recognition Jurisdictions: Practical Steps

If you live in, have assets in, or spend significant time in a jurisdiction that does not recognise your same-sex marriage, additional planning steps are needed.

Trust structures: A properly drafted offshore discretionary trust — typically governed by Isle of Man, Guernsey, or Cayman Islands law — can hold assets for the benefit of your partner and family regardless of local succession law in your country of residence. The trust is a separate legal entity governed by the law of its home jurisdiction; it is not subject to the local succession law of the country where the couple lives. This is the most robust solution for high-net-worth internationally mobile same-sex couples.

Wills valid in each relevant jurisdiction: A UK will may not be valid or effective in all countries. Local wills — drafted by local lawyers in each country where you have significant assets — provide an additional layer. Note that a will which would give effect to a same-sex spouse's inheritance may or may not be enforceable in a non-recognition jurisdiction; local legal advice is essential.

Insurance ownership and nomination: UK and Isle of Man life insurance policies pay to whoever is nominated or trust-held — the insurer follows the contract, not local succession law. Ensuring that life policies are trust-held, or that nominations are explicit and in writing, is important for internationally mobile couples.

Power of attorney: Consider mutual powers of attorney effective in each relevant jurisdiction, allowing your partner to manage your affairs if you are incapacitated. In some non-recognition jurisdictions, an incapacitated person's affairs would be managed by blood relatives, not a same-sex partner, absent explicit legal authorisation.

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Same-Sex Couples and Children

For same-sex couples with children — whether biological, adopted, or through surrogacy — the protection planning includes the standard parental considerations (life insurance and income protection to ensure children are financially protected if a parent dies or becomes disabled) but may also involve additional legal complexity around parental rights.

UK law is generally clear: legally recognised parents — regardless of the method by which parenthood was established — have the same rights and responsibilities as biological parents. Both parents in a same-sex couple where one was born to a child through IVF or surrogacy may have full parental rights under UK law, depending on the specific circumstances of the birth and any legal formalisation.

For families where these issues arise, legal advice from a family law solicitor should accompany any protection planning, to ensure that the financial protection is aligned with the legal framework of parenthood.

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How Global Investments Can Help

Global Investments works with same-sex couples and civil partners who need their protection and estate planning to reflect their actual circumstances — including the international complexity that can arise for internationally mobile couples.

We can help you:

• Review existing protection arrangements to ensure nominations and trust structures are correctly set up
• Design IHT planning appropriate for your relationship structure, including trust-based arrangements for couples in non-recognition jurisdictions
• Source life assurance and CI cover from UK or offshore providers appropriate for your circumstances
• Connect with specialist trust lawyers and estate planning solicitors experienced in same-sex couple planning
• Ensure that your protection and estate planning is coordinated across all relevant jurisdictions where you have assets or residence

Good financial protection is for everyone — and good advisers treat same-sex couples' planning with exactly the same thoroughness and expertise as any other client's. If you have any doubt about whether your existing planning adequately reflects your specific circumstances, a review is the right starting point.

This guide is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal, financial, or tax advice. Legal recognition of same-sex relationships varies by country and changes over time. Always seek specialist professional advice, including local legal advice in each relevant jurisdiction.