Unmarried fathers paternity leave 2 November 2010 at 5:59PM in UK armed forces MoneySaving 15 replies 4.1K views

biancacarr

Hi all , my partner is i the army and we are expecting a baby in april, we are not married i wonder will he be entitled to paternity leave ?. Also we have no plans to get married as we are happy as we are for the moment but we are planning on starting up home together when he gets back from tour. Im guessing we wouldnt qualify for army housing bit if anyone knows different would be grateful for advice. Sorry to seem slightly niave but i really dont know much about the army side of things and hes not great at asking people at work lol. Many thanks in advance :-)

badgerhead

as far as i know if you're unmarried then your relationship " doesn't exsist", then again it might have changed in last couple a years. if he's got a good boss he could try and get his easter leave to be kinda his paternity, if you know what i mean.

the housing is a definate no though. unless it's exceptional circumstances i guess.

biancacarr

Yeah i thought as much on the army housing front theres no exeptional circumstances apart from the fact we live 3 hours drive away from eachother lol (he stays in camp weeknights)..so you dont get paternity leave in the army it would have to be taken from his leave you think ?

badgerhead

if its the case he's not entitled to paternity leave, then if the baby is due in april, then its going to be around easter leave time, unless he's on ops or training etc. say his easter leave is 2 weeks after the baby due date, why not get him to ask if he can " flexi-time " his leave to fit in with the baby being born. if his platoon isnt on anything majorly important on and he's gotta pl sgt that squares his blokes away, you might find it possible.

BLT_2

biancacarr wrote: »

Hi all , my partner is i the army and we are expecting a baby in april, we are not married i wonder will he be entitled to paternity leave ?. Also we have no plans to get married as we are happy as we are for the moment but we are planning on starting up home together when he gets back from tour. Im guessing we wouldnt qualify for army housing bit if anyone knows different would be grateful for advice. Sorry to seem slightly niave but i really dont know much about the army side of things and hes not great at asking people at work lol. Many thanks in advance :-)

Until you marry, which you do not intend to do, he is entitled to none of the benefits that being married brings with regards to a member of the military.

If the Army extended married peoples allowances to girlfriends anarchy would ensue , individuals would be applying for MQs after they had struck it lucky in the local nightclub.

biancacarr

BLT wrote: »

Until you marry, which you do not intend to do, he is entitled to none of the benefits that being married brings with regards to a member of the military.

If the Army extended married peoples allowances to girlfriends anarchy would ensue , individuals would be applying for MQs after they had struck it lucky in the local nightclub.

Thankyou for your reply and in some circumstances you have a valid point, bit i can assure you he did not "strike lucky in the local nightclub" lol. I am his partner of nearly 3 years, we are expecting a baby. We just dont happen to be married at the moment.

martinbuckley

1. He is entitled to Paternity Leave. He signs a declaration that he is the biological father, not that he is married to the mother. His name must also be on the birth certificate. JSP 760 refers.

2. There is not a hope in hell of you getting army family housing unless you either get married or he becomes the prime carer (custody) for your child. Even with the latter, you wouldnt be officially be able to live there.

You refer to "setting up home". Where are you living at the moment? There is an allowance called GYH, which is paid to service personnel who maintain a private residence away from their base, even if it is rented. However, their name must be on the deeds/rental agreement and their name must be on a Council Tax bill for each year they claim. JSP 752 refers.

helsee

your partner is entitled to Paternal leave, being married is not a condition of this! BUT work requirements may dictate when he gets it....

No, unless your married you wont be housed by the army or be entitled to any of the family benefits,( and rightly so in my opinion).

biancacarr

Thankyou for the info..when my partner is back from tour our plans for now are that we are going to rent somewhere closer to his base, ( at the moment i have my own house he lives in base in single quarters as the commute is too far to do every evening ). I wasnt asking for opinions on what people thought of unmarried families in the army, just wondered if anyone knew of what happens in my situation im sure other people have had the same kind of problem and would be grateful for advice as i really dont know how these things work. Do you know how i could find out about the GYH allowance. Thanks again.

BLT_2

biancacarr wrote: »

Thankyou for the info..when my partner is back from tour our plans for now are that we are going to rent somewhere closer to his base, ( at the moment i have my own house he lives in base in single quarters as the commute is too far to do every evening ). I wasnt asking for opinions on what people thought of unmarried families in the army, just wondered if anyone knew of what happens in my situation im sure other people have had the same kind of problem and would be grateful for advice as i really dont know how these things work. Do you know how i could find out about the GYH allowance. Thanks again.

The GYH allowance is not relevant if you are planning on renting somewhere close to the base to be honest. I would also watch this space in relation to Military Allowances in general. There are some pretty severe cuts on the way across the board.

BLT_2

biancacarr wrote: »

Thankyou for your reply and in some circumstances you have a valid point, bit i can assure you he did not "strike lucky in the local nightclub" lol. I am his partner of nearly 3 years, we are expecting a baby. We just dont happen to be married at the moment.

Nope, didn't mean to imply that in any way, merely stating a fact that extending MQ rights to girlfriends would result in a mass influx of young soldiers to the families office every Monday morning