`Special' people need rights too.Byline: By Denise Robertson It's more than a year since I advocated, in this column, that everyone should have a "special person", someone who would inherit all the rights and privileges now accorded only to a spouse. So I hope no-one will accuse me of joining the Tories in what some people say is an attempt to derail de·rail intr. & tr.v. de·railed, de·rail·ing, de·rails 1. To run or cause to run off the rails. 2. the Civil Partnerships Bill, of which I heartily approve. A good marriage is bliss and it's right that married lovers should be able to safeguard one another. If those lovers are of the same sex and therefore without that magic bit of paper we call a marriage licence, the principle holds good as far as I'm concerned. It also holds good for those who have not been lucky enough to fall in love, but who cherish a parent or a sibling. Or even a friend in a non-sexual way. To be able to pass on a house or a tenancy A situation that arises when one individual conveys real property to another individual by way of a lease. The relation of an individual to the land he or she holds that designates the extent of that person's estate in real property. , pension benefits and the right to be at a loved one's deathbed whether or not you're next of kin The blood relatives entitled by law to inherit the property of a person who dies without leaving a valid will, although the term is sometimes interpreted to include a relationship existing by reason of marriage. Cross-references Descent and Distribution. ( surely these are human rights and the sooner they are enshrined in legislation the better. |
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