“Modern Families” lesson plans to dispel the common law marriage myth gain PSHE Quality Mark

The PSHE Quality Mark has been awarded to “Modern families” – a free-to-access lesson pack to help pupils between the ages of 14 and 16 make informed decisions about future relationships.

The pack has been produced to support the Government’s guidance on relationships education. The PSHE Quality Mark is awarded exclusively to resources that meet best practice principles for safe and effective PSHE education.

The pack has been prepared as a collaboration by the University of Exeter and Resolution, the community of family justice professionals who work with families and individuals to resolve issues in a constructive way.

Our Head of Family Law and Partner at BBS Law, Graeme Fraser is also Chair of Resolution’s Cohabitation Committee, and has led Resolution’s involvement over the past year in developing the lesson plans.

A key objective of the lessons is to dispel “the common law marriage myth”, namely the mistaken belief that unmarried couples who live together for some time have a “common law marriage” which gives them the same legal rights as married couples. They explore non-qualifying ceremonies, a marriage or other ceremony that do not have legal effect under the law of England and Wales.

The teaching is designed to help pupils between the ages of 14 and 16 at Key Stage 4 make informed decisions about future relationships.

The first lesson focuses on the formalising of relationships so that pupils learn about the validity of, and the laws and regulations around, marriage and civil ceremonies in England and Wales. The second lesson focuses on the legal consequences of different family forms so that pupils learn about key differences in legal rights between couples who are legally married or in a civil partnership and couples in a non-legally binding relationship, and why it is important to know these differences.

In response to the PSHE Association’s announcement to award their Quality Mark to “Modern Families”, Graeme Fraser commented:

“I am deeply proud to have been closely involved in the development of the “Modern Families” lesson plans which will better inform school pupils to understand the legal status of marriage, and how those couples who cohabit or who have married in an unregistered religious ceremony do not enjoy the same legal rights and protections”

“Carefully crafted by leading academics and specialist family lawyers, these lesson plans will help future generations to better understand their legal rights and how they contrast depending on whether they are unmarried, married or in a registered civil partnership”

“While public awareness of these matters is essential, until cohabitation law is comprehensively informed, it is also essential that specialist legal advice is obtained on a bespoke basis by anyone who wishes to better understand their rights when they form a relationship, and on relationship breakdown or death”

Graeme Fraser, BBS

Please contact our Family Law Team for legal advice on cohabitation tailored to your circumstances.