What is "living together as husband and wife" ??

MissAdventure

ceridwen wrote: »

There must surely be other criteria as well - put like that I wouldnt dare go on holiday with a friend soon if either of us had become unemployed in the meantime - as all those boxes would be ticked. But - we are both female and just friends (neither of us would dream of being involved with a member of the same sex:eek:).

Being the same sex doesn't protect you, the regulations also state 'living with a member of the same sex as if in a civil partnership'

MissAdventure

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Since when has living together been the same as dating?

Its not the 'living togther' that gives the financial responsibility. I live with four people. I only started dating one of them.

If he had known that the government would have considered him financially responsible as if we were married I suspect he'd have run a mile rather than have that first date!!

kelloggs36

That is one of the factors too - the financial relationship - if you are completely separate financially and he would not support you if you had no benefits, that would be noted and go in your favour - along with the other things!

redz

These boards just keep getting better and better

Whiteknight

Many people seem to think that your classed as living together if your having sex or sharing the same bed - this is not the case as you can have married couples who don't share the same bed or even a room for various reasons but they would still consider themselves to be a couple. As it has already been mentioned a LTAHAW/CP decision would be made once all the relevant forms have been completed.

The advantage of a site like this is that it gives people the opportunity to ask for advice and information that may be difficult to find elsewhere. I am sure that the OP has been given enough information to know what to expect when any forms need to be completed regarding a living together decision and I am sure she will know what answers to give.

Jomo

The problem with the old system is that people changed their living arrangements to fit in with the rules...so if you were allowed to stay over 3 nights before any rules were broken, this is what they did.

I believe this to be wrong and don't think people should have to live separately to be financially better off but I believe this to be reasoning behind this issue. I would think that all cases would have to be dealt with separately on their own merit, you may find that as you do share certain costs, food for example, you are deemed as a couple. If you can prove that everything purchased is separate then you should be ok.

Kimitatsu

MissAdventure wrote: »

Its not the 'living togther' that gives the financial responsibility. I live with four people. I only started dating one of them.

If he had known that the government would have considered him financially responsible as if we were married I suspect he'd have run a mile rather than have that first date!!

You are not considered to be living together as man and wife if you have seperate accomodation (i.e you have a seperate bedroom each with seperate living areas, your clothes in your room etc), you are not financially linked - so you dont have a joint bank account. You do not share a bill together such as your food bill.

To be honest as you are living in a shared house I cant imagine that anyone would be that picky about it but you need to make sure that you maintain your seperate bedrooms so that you can prove that you have serperate living areas.

You may get someone come around to have a look one day from the housing office (its quite normal they have to check regularly) so be warned.

Oldernotwiser

MissAdventure wrote: »

I live with four people. I only started dating one of them.
)

I would say that you share with 3 people and live with another.

MissAdventure

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

I would say that you share with 3 people and live with another.

Then can I ask you what, in your opinion, the difference between sharing and living with is?

Oldernotwiser

MissAdventure wrote: »

Then can I ask you what, in your opinion, the difference between sharing and living with is?

You live with a boy/girlfriend, you share with a friend.