The Marriage and Civil Partnership (Northern Ireland) (No. 2) Regulations 2020

Social Security Pensions (Northern Ireland) Order 1975

35.—(1) Article 69 of the Social Security Pensions (Northern Ireland) Order 1975(1) (increase of official pensions) is amended in accordance with paragraphs (2) to (7).

(2) In paragraph (5ZB), for sub-paragraph (a) substitute—

“(a)in the case of a pension payable to a woman in respect of the services—

(i)of her deceased male spouse,

(ii)of her deceased female spouse in a relevant gender change case,

(iii)of her deceased male civil partner, or

(iv)of her deceased female civil partner in a relevant gender change case,

one half of the rate of the deceased spouse’s, or deceased civil partner’s, guaranteed minimum pension at the relevant time;”.

(3) In paragraph (5ZB)(b)—

(a)for the words from “a widower’s” to “2019,” substitute “any other surviving spouse’s pension,”, and

(b)for “wife’s” substitute “spouse’s”.

(4) In paragraph (5ZB)(c), for “case of a” substitute “case of any other”.

(5) In paragraph (5ZC), for sub-paragraph (a) substitute—

“(a)does not apply to a pension payable to the survivor of a couple in respect of any service of the deceased member of the couple if—

(i)the deceased member’s pension in respect of that service became payable before 24th September 1990,

(ii)a marriage between the couple is solemnised at a time (whether or not before the deceased member’s pension in respect of that service became payable) when one of them is a man and the other is a woman and they are not civil partners, and

(iii)at the deceased member’s death (and whether or not the couple are still not of the same sex), the couple are parties to that marriage or to the civil partnership resulting from conversion of that marriage;”.

(6) In paragraph (7), after the definition of “beginning date” insert—

““conversion”, in relation to a marriage, means—

(7) In paragraph (7), after the definition of “lump sum” insert—

““relevant gender change case” means a case where—

(8) In consequence of paragraphs (2) and (3), in the Marriage (Same-sex Couples) and Civil Partnership (Opposite-sex Couples) (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2019(3) omit regulation 61(2) and (3).