The Civil Partnership (Contracted-out Occupational and Appropriate Personal Pension Schemes) (Surviving Civil Partners) Order (Northern Ireland) 2005

PART 4

Amendment of the Occupational Pension Schemes (Contracting-out) Regulations

10.  The Occupational Pension Schemes (Contracting-out) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996 (1) are amended in accordance with paragraphs 11 to 23.

11.  In regulation 1 (citation, commencement and interpretation) after paragraph (1) there shall be inserted the following paragraph—

“(1A) For the purposes of these Regulations, 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.”.

12.  In regulation 20(1)(b)(2) (trivial commutation of benefits derived from section 5(2B) rights) for “his widow or widower” there shall be substituted “the relevant transferee’s widow, widower or surviving civil partner”.

13.  In regulation 23(b) (requirements for meeting the statutory standard) for “widows or widowers”, in each place where it occurs, there shall be substituted “widows, widowers or surviving civil partners”.

14.  For regulation 26 (reference scheme: circumstances in which widows' or widowers' pensions need not be payable) there shall be substituted the following regulation—

“Reference scheme: circumstances in which widows', widowers' or surviving civil partners' pensions need not be payable

26.— (1) For the purposes of section 8B(4)(a)(3) of the Act (reference scheme to provide widows', widowers' and surviving civil partners' pensions except in prescribed circumstances), and subject to paragraph (2), the prescribed circumstances are where—

(a) the scheme member marries or forms a civil partnership after having received benefits under the scheme;

(b) the widow, widower or surviving civil partner of the scheme member—

(i) remarries or, as the case may be, marries;

(ii) forms a civil partnership or, as the case may be, forms a subsequent civil partnership;

(iii) lives together as husband and wife with another person to whom he or she is not married, or

(iv) lives together with a person of the same sex as if they were civil partners,

after having received benefits under the scheme;

(c) the widow, widower or surviving civil partner of the scheme member is at the time of the member’s death—

(i) living together as husband and wife with another person to whom he or she is not married, or

(ii) living together with a person of the same sex as if they were civil partners.

(2) Paragraph (1)(b)(ii) and (iv) and (c)(ii) does not apply where the scheme member dies before 5th December 2005.”.

15.  In regulation 45(3A)(4) (approval of arrangements for schemes ceasing to be contracted-out) for “widow or widower” there shall be substituted “widow, widower or surviving civil partner”.

16.  In regulation 50A(5) (persons to be regarded as members) for “widow’s or widower's” there shall be substituted “widow's, widower’s or surviving civil partner's”.

17.  In regulation 55(1)(c)(6) (scheme rules about guaranteed minimum pensions) after “widower” there shall be inserted “or surviving civil partner”.

18.  In regulation 57 (circumstances in which widower’s guaranteed minimum pension is to be payable)—

(a) in the heading after “widower's” there shall be inserted “or surviving civil partner's”;

(b) after “widower's” there shall be inserted “or surviving civil partner's”;

(c) after “widower”, in each place where it occurs, there shall be inserted “or surviving civil partner”, and

(d) in paragraph (b)—

(i) in sub-paragraph (ii) for “her” there shall be substituted “the earner's”, and

(ii) in sub-paragraph (iii) for “he” there shall be substituted “the widower or surviving civil partner”.

19.  In regulation 58 (period for which widower’s guaranteed minimum pension is to be payable)—

(a) in the heading after “widower's” there shall be inserted “or surviving civil partner's”;

(b) in paragraph (1) after “widower's”, in each place where it occurs, there shall be inserted “or surviving civil partner's”;

(c) for paragraph (2) there shall be substituted the following paragraph—

“(2) There is excluded from the periods prescribed under paragraph (1)(b) or (c) any period—

(a) after the widower’s remarriage or surviving civil partner’s marriage under pensionable age;

(b) after the formation of a civil partnership by the widower or the formation of a subsequent civil partnership by the surviving civil partner under pensionable age;

(c) during which the widower or surviving civil partner is under pensionable age and—

(i) he or, as the case may be, she and a person of the opposite sex are living together as husband and wife, or

(ii) he or, as the case may be, she and a person of the same sex are living together as if they were civil partners;

(d) after the widower has attained pensionable age if immediately before he attained that age—

(i) he and a woman to whom he was not married were living together as husband and wife, or

(ii) he and a man were living together as if they were civil partners, or

(e) after the surviving civil partner has attained pensionable age if immediately before he or she attained that age—

(i) he or she and a person of the opposite sex to whom he or she was not married were living together as husband and wife, or

(ii) he or she and a person of the same sex were living together as if they were civil partners.”, and

(d) after paragraph (2) there shall be added the following paragraph—

“(3) Paragraph (2)(b), (c)(ii) and (d)(ii) does not apply where a man becomes a widower before 5th December 2005.”.

20.  In regulation 59 (statutory references to persons entitled to guaranteed minimum pensions – application to widowers)—

(a) in the heading at the end there shall be added “and surviving civil partners”, and

(b) after “when the earner died” there shall be inserted “or by virtue of being the surviving civil partner of an earner only in the case where the earner and the surviving civil partner were both over pensionable age when the earner died”.

21.  In regulation 60 (trivial commutation of guaranteed minimum pensions)—

(a) in paragraph (1)(b) for “his widow or her widower” there shall be substituted “the earner’s widow, widower or surviving civil partner”, and

(b) in paragraph (2) for “widow’s or widower's”, in each place where it occurs, there shall be substituted “widow's, widower’s or surviving civil partner's”.

22.  In regulation 61 (suspension and forfeiture of guaranteed minimum pensions)—

(a) in paragraph (1) for “widow’s or widower's” there shall be substituted “widow's, widower’s or surviving civil partner's”, and

(b) in paragraph (2) for “widow’s or widower's”, in each place where it occurs, there shall be substituted “widow's, widower’s or surviving civil partner's”.

23.  In regulation 63(7) (provision of information about guaranteed minimum pensions) for “widow or widower”, in each place where it occurs, there shall be substituted “widow, widower or surviving civil partner”.

(1)

S.R. 1996 No. 493; relevant amending regulations are S.R. 1997 No. 160, S.R. 1997 No. 162, S.R. 1998 No. 208, S.R. 2000 No. 336, S.R. 2002 No. 109 and S.I. 2002/681. See also Schedule 2 to the Social Security Contributions (Transfer of Functions, etc.) (Northern Ireland) Order 1999

(2)

Paragraph (1) was numbered as such by regulation 2(8) of S.R. 2002 No. 109 and amended by regulation 2(3) of S.R. 2000 No. 336

(3)

Section 8B was inserted by Article 133(5) of the Pensions (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 and amended by regulation 2 of S.R. 1997 No. 162

(4)

Paragraph (3A) was inserted by regulation 3(3) of S.R. 1997 No. 162

(5)

Regulation 50A was inserted by regulation 5 of S.R. 1998 No. 208

(6)

Regulation 55(1) was amended by paragraph 5(11) of the Schedule to S.R. 1997 No. 160

(7)

Regulation 63 was amended by regulation 2(15) of S.R. 2002 No. 109