Predatory marriage: prevention, protection and proposals for reform

Predatory marriage, which can be described as ‘one where a person marries someone, often someone who is elderly or who lacks the mental capacity to marry, as a form of financial abuse’ appears to be on the rise. This article analyses the legal mechanisms that can currently be employed to prevent and respond to predatory marriages and civil partnerships in England and Wales, such as caveats and objections, orders under the Mental Capacity Act, forced marriage protection orders and nullity orders. It concludes that there are significant limitations to the law, which means that this harmful practice is not being adequately addressed. The paper examines recommendations to improve the law that have been made by the Law Commission and organisations such as ‘Hourglass’ and ‘Predatory Marriage UK’ and considers the stance taken in other jurisdictions e.g. Australia. The article concludes that extensive reforms are required to more effectively deter and prevent predatory marriages and to respond to them if they do take place e.g. the abolition of the general rule that marriage and civil partnerships revoke a will and the introduction of a statutory duty to separately interview the parties to a prospective marriage or civil partnership.