Thousands of people in Scotland are bearing a financial burden they could avoid if they were more familiar with new laws relating to couples who have lived together but not married.
An increasing number of couples are co-habiting without tying the knot and a Scottish law now has regulations designed to ensure the fair distribution of assets in the event of a relationship break-down.
However, most people are as yet unaware that these changes to the legal system in Scotland have been introduced and as a result are not claiming payments they might be entitled to, a recent repot for Scotland on Sunday has explained.
Awareness of the rules could lead many people to seek out legal services in Scotland and for many unmarried co-habiting couples the issues that arise will relate to the appropriate allocation of debts between a couple who have gone their separate ways.
The Observer reported recently that more and more couples in the UK are signing a pre-nuptial agreement prior to being married in order to avoid lengthy and difficult divorce proceedings.