30.—(1) The State Pension Credit Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003(1) shall be amended in accordance with sub-paragraphs (2) to (6).
(2) In regulation 1—
(a)in paragraph (2) (interpretation)—
(i)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”, and
(ii)after the definition of “the Computation of Earnings Regulations”(2) there shall be inserted the following definition—
““couple” means—
a man and woman who are married to each other and are members of the same household;
a man and woman who are not married to each other but are living together as husband and wife;
two people of the same sex who are civil partners of each other and are members of the same household; or
two people of the same sex who are not civil partners of each other but are living together as if they were civil partners,
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 paragraph (3), for “a married or unmarried couple” there shall be substituted “a couple”.
(3) In regulation 15(5)(d) (income for the purposes of the Act), for “or former spouse” (in each place where it occurs) there shall be substituted “, civil partner, former spouse or former civil partner”.
(4) In Schedule 4 (amounts to be disregarded in the calculation of income other than earnings)—
(a)in paragraph 1(c)(3), for “widow or widower” there shall be substituted “surviving spouse or surviving civil partner”;
(b)in paragraph 4(4), for “widows or widowers” there shall be substituted “surviving spouses and surviving civil partners”;
(c)in paragraph 5(5), for “widows or widowers” there shall be substituted “surviving spouses and surviving civil partners”;
(d)in paragraph 6(1)(6)—
(i)in head (a), for “widow or widower” there shall be substituted “widow, widower or surviving civil partner”, and
(ii)in head (b), for “widows and widowers” there shall be substituted “surviving spouses and surviving civil partners”;
(e)in paragraph 12, after “spouse” there shall be inserted “or civil partner”.
(5) In Schedule 5 (income from capital)—
(a)in paragraph 4(b), after “estranged or divorced” there shall be inserted “or with whom he had formed a civil partnership that has been dissolved”;
(b)in paragraph 6(1), after “estrangement or divorce from” there shall be inserted “, or dissolution of his civil partnership with,”;
(c)in paragraph 12(c) and (d), after “deceased spouse” there shall be inserted “or deceased civil partner”;
(d)in paragraph 14, after “deceased spouse” (in each place where it occurs) there shall be inserted “or deceased civil partner”;
(e)in paragraph 15—
(i)in sub-paragraph (2), after “estranged or divorced” there shall be inserted “or with whom he has formed a civil partnership that has not been dissolved or, where that person has died, had not been dissolved at the time of that person’s death”,
(ii)in sub-paragraph (3), after “estranged or divorced” there shall be inserted “or, where the partner or former partner and that person have formed a civil partnership, the civil partnership has not been dissolved or, if either of them has died, had not been dissolved at the time of the death”,
(iii)in sub-paragraph (4)(a), after “estranged or divorced” there shall be inserted “or with whom he has formed a civil partnership that has not been dissolved”, and
(iv)in sub-paragraph (5)(a), after “estranged or divorced” there shall be inserted “or with whom he had formed a civil partnership that had not been dissolved”.
(6) In Schedule 6 (sums disregarded from claimant’s earnings), in paragraph 4A(1)(b)(7), for “married or unmarried couples” there shall be substituted “couples”.
Commencement Information
I1Sch. 3 para. 30 in operation at 5.12.2005, see art. 1
S.R. 2003 No. 28; relevant amending Regulations are S.R. 2003 Nos. 191 and 421 and S.I. 2003/2175
The definition of “the Computation of Earnings Regulations” was inserted by regulation 4 of S.I. 2003/2175
Paragraph 1(c) was amended by regulation 2(10)(a) of S.R. 2003 No. 421
Paragraph 4 was amended by regulation 2(10)(b) of S.R. 2003 No. 421
Paragraph 5 was amended by regulation 2(10)(c) of S.R. 2003 No. 421
Paragraph 6(1) was amended by regulation 2(10)(d) and (e) of S.R. 2003 No. 421
Paragraph 4A was inserted by regulation 23(10)(b) of S.R. 2003 No. 191