Married but not living together & benefits

Choccyholic

A question about marriage and benefits please.

Mr & Mrs Smith are married, but they haven't lived together for over 20 years. They rent separate flats in the same town. They don't have joint finances, Mr Smith is retired with a state pension. They act like boyfriend/girlfriend, but it's an off/on rocky relationship.

Mr Smith isn't clever with money. For example his house was sold to pay off debts. He has been spending more than his pension, and is on his last savings. The state pension doesn't cover his monthly rent of his one bedroom flat so he's going to be in more problems before too long.

Mrs Smith used to work part time and has been claiming benefits for years - bleeding Mr Smith dry with holidays, buying her cigarettes, and drinks when at the pub. :mad:

It is a strange relationship, has been like this for as long as I've known them.

From using the benefit calculator on MSE it would appear that Mr Smith could claim pension credit, housing benefit, and have his council tax paid. The claim hasn't yet been made because the information needs gathering.

BUT! The marriage. Will their circumstances be put under scrutiny? As they aren't part of the same household can we just ignore her circumstances? Any help / thoughts would be most appreciated please because I'm going to have to help Mr Smith sort out his mess. AGAIN!

Housing_Benefit_Officer

Choccyholic wrote: »

A question about marriage and benefits please.

Mr & Mrs Smith are married, but they haven't lived together for over 20 years. They rent separate flats in the same town. They don't have joint finances, Mr Smith is retired with a state pension. They act like boyfriend/girlfriend, but it's an off/on rocky relationship.

Mr Smith isn't clever with money. For example his house was sold to pay off debts. He has been spending more than his pension, and is on his last savings. The state pension doesn't cover his monthly rent of his one bedroom flat so he's going to be in more problems before too long.

Mrs Smith used to work part time and has been claiming benefits for years - bleeding Mr Smith dry with holidays, buying her cigarettes, and drinks when at the pub. :mad:

It is a strange relationship, has been like this for as long as I've known them.

From using the benefit calculator on MSE it would appear that Mr Smith could claim pension credit, housing benefit, and have his council tax paid. The claim hasn't yet been made because the information needs gathering.

BUT! The marriage. Will their circumstances be put under scrutiny? As they aren't part of the same household can we just ignore her circumstances? Any help / thoughts would be most appreciated please because I'm going to have to help Mr Smith sort out his mess. AGAIN!

I would treat them as a couple.

TELLIT01

Choccyholic wrote: »

BUT! The marriage. Will their circumstances be put under scrutiny? As they aren't part of the same household can we just ignore her circumstances? Any help / thoughts would be most appreciated please because I'm going to have to help Mr Smith sort out his mess. AGAIN!

No we can't just ignore her circumstances. There will be investigation into how much of a relationship they are in. Simply living at different addresses does not mean they are not, or will not be treated as, a couple.
Couple can be separated by circumstances but still be a couple. For example one party in the Armed Forces and stationed away from home would still be part of a couple.
Each case would be considered on its own merits, but I would expect considerable scrutiny in this instance. The comment about being more like boyfriend and girlfriend in itself suggest they are potentially a couple.

The_Old_Bag

So, does being 'Friends with Benefits' make 2 people a couple?.....
And is that a couple in the eyes of the law, or just the eyes of DWP?

[Deleted User]

The_Old_Bag wrote: »

So, does being 'Friends with Benefits' make 2 people a couple?.....
And is that a couple in the eyes of the law, or just the eyes of DWP?

They're not friends with benefits they're married!

TELLIT01

The_Old_Bag wrote: »

So, does being 'Friends with Benefits' make 2 people a couple?.....
And is that a couple in the eyes of the law, or just the eyes of DWP?

There are various criteria used by DWP to determine whether two people are classed as a couple for benefit purposes. It is not a case of the legal status of married couple, civil partnership etc. There are many people who would consider themselves to be in stable relationships, but in the eyes of the law have no automatic rights in the event of one party dying. Those people would certainly be a couple for benefit purposes.

Icequeen99

It depends on the benefit.

For tax credits for example, the legislation is clear that if you are married, you are a couple, whether you live together or not. The only exception would be if you separated under a court order or separated permanently.

DWP benefits have the same household requirement that tax credits do not and so that is the part of the test that is relevant here. You would need to look at the guidance and disclose all of the facts honestly and see what the relevant benefit department said.

Here is the official guidance https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/474014/dmgch11.pdf

IQ

pmlindyloo

I find it strange that Mrs Smith has been claiming benefits for years.

Perhaps the best thing to do is ask Mrs Smith what she has told the DWP (whoever) about her circumstances - we may not know the whole circumstances.

Otherwise a 'quick divorce' might be the answer if he can't survive on his state pension.

tboo

It has in the past - in my area anyway - for the DWP to ignore a marriage as proof of living together especially if the 'couple' in question deny it

Obviuosly the DWP will investigate Mr and Mrs Smith and question them about their arrangements

teddysmum

pmlindyloo wrote: »

I find it strange that Mrs Smith has been claiming benefits for years.

Perhaps the best thing to do is ask Mrs Smith what she has told the DWP (whoever) about her circumstances - we may not know the whole circumstances.

Otherwise a 'quick divorce' might be the answer if he can't survive on his state pension.

Divorces cost money and he appears to have very little.

professor~yaffle

Yes Mr Smith would need to let them know he is married, but if Mrs Smith's not earning much (if anything) and presumably has no savings it's unlikely the wife's money will affect his entitlement to benefits.