Article 2(4)
1. In regulation 3 of the Child Support (Information, Evidence and Disclosure) Regulations 1992(1) (purposes for which information or evidence may be required), in paragraphs (2)(b)(2) and (c), after “marital” insert “or civil partnership”.
2.—(1) Amend the Child Support (Maintenance Assessments and Special Cases) Regulations 1992(3) as follows.
(2) In regulation 1 (citation, commencement and interpretation), in paragraph (2)—
(a)for the definition of “couple” substitute 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 the definition of “family” for “a married or unmarried couple” (in each place) substitute “a couple”;
(c)omit the definitions of “married couple” and “unmarried couple”;
(d)in the definition of “partner”, in paragraph (a) for “a married or unmarried couple” substitute “a couple”.
(3) In regulation 18 (excessive housing costs), in paragraph (2)(b), after “divorce from,” insert “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” substitute “a war widow’s pension, a war widower’s pension and a surviving civil partner’s war pension”;
(b)in paragraph 22(1B)(2)(5), for “a war widow’s pension and a war widower’s pension” substitute “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 45—
(i)after “a divorce” insert “, dissolution of a civil partnership”;
(ii)after “the divorce” in sub-paragraph (a) insert “, dissolution of the civil partnership”;
(b)in paragraph 48F(6), for “widows and widowers” (in each place) substitute “widows, widowers and surviving civil partners”.
(6) In Schedule 3 (eligible housing costs), in paragraph 7, 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” substitute “or if any of the preceding persons is one member of a couple, the other member of that couple”.
3. In regulation 8 of the Child Support (Collection and Enforcement) Regulations 1992(7) (interpretation of this Part), in paragraph (5)(c)(ii), after “widow,” insert “surviving civil partner,”.
4. In regulation 3 of the Child Support (Maintenance Arrangements and Jurisdiction) Regulations 1992(8) (relationship between maintenance assessments and certain court orders), in paragraph (1)(9) at the end add the following sub-paragraph—
“(x)Schedule 5, 6 or 7 to the Civil Partnership Act 2004.”.
5. In regulation 2 of the Child Support (Collection and Enforcement of Other Forms of Maintenance) Regulations 1992(10) (periodical payments and categories of person prescribed for the purposes of section 30 of the Act), in paragraph (b)(11) for “or former spouse” substitute “, civil partner, former spouse or former civil partner”.
6.—(1) Amend the Child Support Departure Direction and Consequential Amendments Regulations 1996(12) as follows.
(2) In regulation 16 (debts incurred before the absent parent became an absent parent)—
(a)in paragraph (1) for “a married or unmarried couple” substitute “a couple”;
(b)for sub-paragraph (e) of paragraph (2) substitute the following sub-paragraph—
“(e)unpaid legal costs in respect of—
(i)separation or divorce from the non-applicant parent;
(ii)separation from the non-applicant parent or the dissolution of a civil partnership that had been formed with the non-applicant parent;”;
(c)in paragraph (5), in sub-paragraph (a) for “married or unmarried couple” substitute “couple”.
7.—(1) Amend the Child Support (Maintenance Calculations and Special Cases) Regulations 2000(13) as follows.
(2) In regulation 1 (citation, commencement and interpretation), in paragraph (2)—
(a)for the definition of “couple” substitute 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 sub-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 “war widow’s pension”(14), after “and “war widower’s pension”” insert “and “surviving civil partner’s war pension””.
(3) In regulation 4 (flat rate), in paragraph (1), for sub-paragraph (f)(15) substitute the following sub-paragraph—
“(f)a war widow’s pension, war widower’s pension or surviving civil partner’s war pension;”.
8. In regulation 12 of the Child Support (Variations) Regulations 2000(16) (special expenses – prior debts), for sub-paragraph (e) of paragraph (3) substitute the following sub-paragraph—
“(e)unpaid legal costs in respect of—
(i)separation or divorce from the person with care;
(ii)separation from the person with care or the dissolution of a civil partnership that had been formed with the person with care;”.
Paragraph (2)(b) was amended by S.I. 2001/161.
Paragraph 9A was inserted by 1999/977, and sub-paragraph (2) was amended by S.I. 2003/2779.
Paragraph 22 was renumbered as paragraph 22(1) by S.I. 1996/1345, paragraph 22(1B) was inserted by S.I. 1999/977 and paragraph 22(1B)(2) was amended by S.I. 2003/2779.
Paragraph 48F was inserted by S.I. 2003/2779.
Paragraph (1) was substituted by S.I. 1995/1045.
Paragraph (b) was amended by S.I. 1993/913 and S.I. 2001/162.
The definition of “war widow’s pension” was inserted by S.I. 2003/2779.
Sub-paragraph (f) was inserted by S.I. 2003/2779.