The Civil Partnership (Pensions, Social Security and Child Support) (Consequential, etc. Provisions) Order (Northern Ireland) 2005

Child Support (Maintenance Assessments and Special Cases) Regulations

2.—(1) The Child Support (Maintenance Assessments and Special Cases) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1992(1) shall be amended in accordance with sub-paragraphs (2) to (6).

(2) In regulation 1(2) (interpretation)—

(a)for the definition of “couple”(2) there shall be substituted the following definition—

““couple” means—

and for the purposes of paragraph (d), two people of the same sex are to be regarded as living together as if they were civil partners if, but only if, they would be regarded as living together as husband and wife were they instead two people of the opposite sex;;”;

(b)in the definition of “family”(3), for “a married or unmarried couple” (in each place where it occurs) there shall be substituted “a couple”;

(c)the definitions of “married couple” and “unmarried couple” shall be omitted;

(d)in the definition of “partner”, in paragraph (a), for “a married or unmarried couple” there shall be substituted “a couple”.

(3) In regulation 18(2)(b) (excessive housing costs) after “divorce from,” there shall be inserted “dissolution of a civil partnership with,”.

(4) In Schedule 1 (calculation of N and M)—

(a)in paragraph 9A(2)(4), for “a war widow’s pension and a war widower’s pension” there shall be substituted “a war widow’s pension, a war widower’s pension and a surviving civil partner’s war pension”;

(b)in paragraph 22A(2)(5), for “a war widow’s pension and a war widower’s pension” there shall be substituted “a war widow’s pension, a war widower’s pension and a surviving civil partner’s war pension”.

(5) In Schedule 2 (amounts to be disregarded when calculating or estimating N and M)—

(a)in paragraph 44—

(i)after “a divorce” there shall be inserted “, dissolution of a civil partnership”, and

(ii)in sub-paragraph (a), after “the divorce” there shall be inserted “, dissolution of the civil partnership”;

(b)in paragraph 47F(6), for “widows and widowers” (in each place where it occurs) there shall be substituted “widows, widowers and surviving civil partners”.

(6) In Schedule 3 (eligible housing costs), in paragraph 7 (interpretation), in the definition of “close relative”, for “or the spouse of any of the preceding persons or, if that person is one of an unmarried couple, the other member of that couple” there shall be substituted “or if any of the preceding persons is one member of a couple, the other member of that couple”.