As the Islanders' time in "the Villa" comes to an end (sob!), it is the ideal time to grasp the thorny mantle laid bare in our Love Island blog and answer the question: "Can Love Island give us more legal advice inspiration?"
Of course it can [insert Iain Stirling voiceover]!
Tissues at the ready. With no more "coupling up" ceremonies on the horizon and having met "the In Laws", the Islanders are in it for the long run (or at least until the press junket has rolled through).
After living in a Villa together for two months and having made many, many, many public (and recorded) declarations of love, the first thing the Islanders are going to think about is making sure they nail the same set-up back home...
Totes Buying a Villa together
The chance of the Islanders setting up home is high.
The chances of them setting up home in Scotland is as remote as one of the Islanders not securing a cameo on TOWIE and/or putting out a fitness video and/or starting a "clothing line", but life in Scotland as a cohabitant would not be all bad for the Islanders.
If they were living together as a couple in Scotland and they split up one could make a financial claim against the other.
The person claiming requires to show that they have been "economically disadvantaged" or that the other has been "economically advantaged".
For example, if they buy a house together but the Islander has put all the cash in, that Islander could try to address that imbalance by making a claim. To make sure their claim can be made, they will need to do so within a year of separating.
In addition, if they have kids, they could apply to the Child Maintenance Service for financial support until they leave school and if that wasn't felt to be enough they could make a claim for additional support towards the continuing care of the kid (or kids) until they are 16.
There are no similar laws for cohabitants in England (at the minute!), but for any new living together relationship it would be wise to make sure it is clear what is to happen if the relationship ends, especially when buying a house together. Instead of "I got a text!" we need "we got an agreement!" Not as catchy?
As Alan said: "100% your type, then put it on paper..."
Bets on: Who's getting hitched first?
With marriage comes... You've guessed it. A four page magazine photo spread of the engagement and of course THE BIG DAY.
Bearing in mind the potentially sizeable sum involved in this and other post Villa endorsements; by the time of getting hitched the Islanders may be fairly minted in their own right.
In Scottish terms if the Islanders had some cash before the wedding day and kept it locked in an account it would be excluded from our division of property exercise on divorce. To make sure anything they had before the marriage stays ring-fenced the Islanders will need THE PRE-NUP #obvs.
In Scotland Pre-nups are routinely entered into and adhered to after separation. But things would be less certain in England and Wales where Pre-nups are not automatically enforceable (at the minute!).
In both places the Agreement needs to be fair, not rushed and no pressure put on one by the other to sign it.
Apart from anything else, it would make it Far. Too. Emosh.
Goodbye Islanders. Time to get our lives back.
