[Article] Property and tax rights for gay couples

ixoy

Just bursting to post articles today since Boards resurrected. This one from the Sunday Times:

GAY couples and people cohabiting in long-term relationships look set to be given official state recognition, gaining inheritance and tax rights reserved for married couples.

Civil servants are preparing a position paper for cabinet that will propose legal changes to give gay and cohabiting couples property rights. The proposals include changing the inheritance law to allow those in long-term relationships to inherit the property of their deceased friend. At present unmarried couples can be willed property by their deceased loved ones but do not get the inheritance tax breaks afforded to married couples. The bequest is also open to challenge by the deceased’s blood relatives.

The state’s first move towards recognising civil relationships is likely to spark heated debate. The Law Reform Commission recommended in April that gay and heterosexual relationships be set on an equal footing with marriages in terms of inheritance and social welfare. They were criticised by Sean Brady, the Catholic archbishop of Armagh, for undermining the status of marriage, which is protected in the constitution.

Officials are examining some of the commission’s proposals for the cabinet position paper. Willie O’Dea, the junior justice minister, said: “Officials are looking at all aspects and they are going to come up with a proposal. The government will have to take the hard decision then.

“There is a need for debate. I don’t know what the views of the government would be. Various arguments will be put forward for and against; are we undermining the status of marriage as we know it? And can we do it within the terms of the constitution?” The number of cohabiting couples in Ireland has increased by 40% in the past six years to 77,600 in 2002. The number of cohabiting gay couples rose by 125% to 1,300.

Marie Mulholland, who works for the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, co-owns a house in Dublin with her lover Jane. She said they had recently discussed with their families what would become of their home in the event of either of their deaths. She said she was “appalled” that any family member could make a legitimate claim to their house.

“Even if I want Jane to have our home, our parents and siblings could stake a claim and their claim would be upheld,” said Mulholland.

Officials are examining ways of giving same-sex couples property privileges similar to those of married couples, including a tax break on property passed between them after death.

A legal register for long-term relationships — first mooted by the Equality Authority — is also being considered.

The finance and social welfare departments are working together with justice on the proposal, according to a government source. He said the finance department was considering reducing the inheritance tax on property which a surviving gay or cohabiting person would normally have to pay on their loved one’s death, bringing them into line with married couples.

The social welfare department was last year forced to allow a gay man’s boyfriend to benefit from his free travel pass.

The scheme allows the spouse or live-in companion of those aged 66 or over to accompany the bearer free of charge on public transport.

Same-sex companions had been barred from the scheme until the Equality Authority intervened.