Civil Partnership Act 2004

Part 9 E+W Amendments of the Child Support (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 (S.I. 1995/ 2702 (N.I. 13))

128 (1) Amend paragraph (7) of Article 4 (the child maintenance bonus) as follows. E+W

(2) After the definition of “child maintenance” insert—

““couple” means—

(a) a man and woman who are married to each other and are members of the same household;

(b) a man and woman who are not married to each other but are living together as husband and wife otherwise than in prescribed circumstances;

(c) two people of the same sex who are civil partners of each other and are members of the same household; or

(d) two people of the same sex who are not civil partners of each other but are living together as if they were civil partners otherwise than in prescribed circumstances;”.

(3) In the definition of “family” for “married or unmarried couple” (in each place) substitute “ couple ”.

(4) Omit the definitions of “married couple” and “unmarried couple”.

129 E+W After that paragraph insert—

“(7A) For the purposes of this Article, 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.”