The Social Security (Incapacity Benefit — Increases for Dependants) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1994

Provisions as to maintenance for the purposes of increase of benefit in respect of dependants

2.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2), a beneficiary shall not, for the purposes of the Contributions and Benefits Act, in so far as they relate to incapacity benefit and of those regulations, be deemed to be wholly or mainly maintaining another person unless the beneficiary—

(a) when incapable of work, contributes towards the maintenance of that person an amount not less than the amount of increase of benefit received in respect of that person; and

(b) when in employment, or not incapable of work, (except in a case where the dependency did not arise until after that time) contributed more than half of the actual cost of maintenance of that person.

(2) In a case where—

(a) a person is partly maintained by each of two or more other persons each of whom could be entitled to an increase of benefit under the Contributions and Benefits Act in respect of that person if he were wholly or mainly maintaining that person; and

(b) the contributions made by those other persons towards the maintenance of that person amount in the aggregate to sums which, if they were contributed by one of them, would be sufficient to satisfy the requirements of paragraph (1),

that person shall, for the purposes of that Act in so far as they relate to incapacity benefit, be deemed to be wholly or mainly maintained by that one of the said other persons who—

(i) makes the larger or largest contribution to the maintenance of that person, or

(ii) in a case where no person makes the larger or largest contribution, is the elder or eldest of the said other persons, or

(iii) in any case, is a person designated in that behalf by a notice in writing signed by a majority of the said other persons and addressed to the Department,

so long as that one of the said other persons continues to be entitled to benefit under that Act and to satisfy the condition contained in paragraph (1)(a).

(3) A notice given under paragraph (2) and the designation contained in it may be revoked at any time by a fresh notice signed by a majority of such persons and another one of their number may be designated thereby, and accordingly, the provisions of that paragraph shall apply to the one so last designated.