Is this legal ?

CIS

For council tax discount/exemption purposes the 'financial side' isn't of prime importance - what is of importance is where the 'sole or main residence' of each party is. If this is clearly at different addresses then they can be a couple and still receive the 25% discount. This may not always match where the position for state benefits and what they regard - different legislation deals with situations differently.

Nick_C

elsien wrote: »

Some interesting information here that the two people concerned may wish to read.
https://revenuebenefits.org.uk/tax-credits/guidance/how-do-tax-credits-work/understanding-living-together/

That's interesting. Raises a question mark over entitlement to tax credits.

Nick_C

Anyone answering the question "is this legal" should really have an understanding of the law. Otherwise your answer is just guesswork.

Cheeky_Monkey

elsien wrote: »

Some interesting information here that the two people concerned may wish to read.
https://revenuebenefits.org.uk/tax-credits/guidance/how-do-tax-credits-work/understanding-living-together/

It's probably best that you do read it Darren so that you can let your wife know she's on dodgy ground

Darren_Featherstone

Thank you for your views, everyone. A frank discussion is clearly required.

FBaby

They are a couple again end of. The question is if they stopped getting all this extra benefits would they continue to live in two separate households even if worse off financially?

TELLIT01

Nick_C wrote: »

If they are not living together then they are not a couple.

Absolutely not true. There can be any number of reasons a couple are not living in the same property, that does not mean that they are not treated as a couple, certainly for benefit purposes.
As for the question of when does it become benefit fraud, it's probably a grey area but I would think it would be from the day they got back together and were effectively acting as a couple. That wouldn't necessarily be the first time they started 'dating' for want of a better description.

Darren_Featherstone

In short, no. The wife enjoys having the flat but it would not be affordable without the £1300 benefits being claimed. Without the benefits, she could not support herself without moving back in with the husband, or back in with her parents.

Darren_Featherstone

Based upon the views being expressed here, the wife needs to understand how the relationship may have impacted upon her claims (which were initially made upon separation), and inform the relevant authorities herself about the relationship. I am grateful for all your contributions to the thread, it is helpful.

Nick_C

TELLIT01 wrote: »

Absolutely not true. There can be any number of reasons a couple are not living in the same property, that does not mean that they are not treated as a couple, certainly for benefit purposes.
As for the question of when does it become benefit fraud, it's probably a grey area but I would think it would be from the day they got back together and were effectively acting as a couple. That wouldn't necessarily be the first time they started 'dating' for want of a better description.

If one or both of the "couple" is temporarily absent, then they can still be treated as a couple. Otherwise, they cannot.

Happy to be corrected on this if you can point me to the relevant legislation or guidance.