Marriage abroad, living long distance

Enquirer123

Hi all,

So here is the scenario. Mr A falls in love with Miss B and she lives in an EU country. Their relationship is long distance for a while.

Mr A is on a very low income and entitled to Housing Benefit. Miss B is reasonably well paid.

Mr A and Miss B get engaged but they are still living in a long distance relationship. They plan to get married in Miss B's country but Miss B will eventually relocate to the UK. Until then Miss B is saving for the wedding and the relocation. She will not be contributing financially to Mr A in any way until she moves to the UK some time after marriage.

Obviously once they live together Mr A's benefit entitlement will be effected. But until that point will Mr A's entitlement be affected in any way and in what way?

Thanks in advance!

huckster

When you marry, you will need to report your change in circumstances. If for example, after marriage, you shared in marital assets, then I would think there would need to be consideration of capital. It would be perculiar if you were married to a very wealthy person and you were claiming UK benefits, without any consideration of your new situation.

Miss B may not be allowed to live in the UK. If she is allowed to reside in the UK, then there may be terms applied.

As this is hypothetical, no point going into further issues.

So much depends on the actual details.

[Deleted User]

methinks the parson did it in the library with a candlestick. sorry I got confused with all the A's and B's.

TELLIT01

This is one of the types of situation where a decision would be made based on the individual circumstances. There is no way to say what the outcome would be at this stage.

Jono111

If Miss B has an EU passport get her to move here first and set up a life together sharing your finances, no need to worry about your benefits.

If she does not have an EU passport I would expect a fairly hard time with immigration and the possibility of not needing housing benefit for a while.

tboo

Enquirer123 wrote: »

Hi all,

So here is the scenario. Mr A falls in love with Miss B and she lives in an EU country. Their relationship is long distance for a while.

Mr A is on a very low income and entitled to Housing Benefit. Miss B is reasonably well paid.

Mr A and Miss B get engaged but they are still living in a long distance relationship. They plan to get married in Miss B's country but Miss B will eventually relocate to the UK. Until then Miss B is saving for the wedding and the relocation. She will not be contributing financially to Mr A in any way until she moves to the UK some time after marriage.

Obviously once they live together Mr A's benefit entitlement will be effected. But until that point will Mr A's entitlement be affected in any way and in what way?

Thanks in advance!

Sham marriage came to mind when I read this


Mr A - we require more info on this lovely sounding 'relationship' - Get back to us asap please

elsien

Have Mr A and Miss B met in person at all yet?

Enquirer123

This hypothetical relationship is - in the scenario - entirely genuine. Mr A and Miss B have indeed met each other and are genuinely in love. Their intention to marry before Miss B moves to the UK is non-negotiable but this is a genuine marriage and not a marriage of convenience. They can prove this.

huckster

You only say Miss B lives in an EU country and not that she is of EU country nationality or has permanent rights of residency in an EU country.

And will Brexit( if it happens) make any difference in terms of rights ?

If they get married abroad, before Miss B is due to come to the UK to reside, then Mr A needs to advise of change of circumstances, which may include any change to financial circumstances.

Then if Miss B comes to the UK to reside ( because she has automatic EU rights), the she will need to be included in any benefits calculation.

Jono111

Once you are married then all your assets are shared. Your combined wealth means you do not need to worry about housing benefit as she is quite well off.
If she is quite well off you automatically become quite well off once you marry her.
I would imagine you can kiss goodbye to any means tested benefits.
You are in love, discuss it with her. Tell her you are worried about losing your benefits when you get married.

Kentish_Dave

So despite your wife being able to support you you want to keep her out of the picture and continue to receive benefits?

You hopefully understand how wrong this is and will honestly report your change in circumstances but your post does seem to suggest otherwise.

Another person who is all about what they can get away with, not what is the right thing to do.