How do I determine who is a dependent?

JulieDH

My husband has just been on the eligibility checker for a credit card and it asks how many dependents he has.  What is the definition of a dependent?  We have two daughters who live at home - one is at University with a student loan and a part-time job and the other works full-time.  I am a housewife and do not work.  When he answered one dependent (being myself), the next question was how much are the annual costs for the dependent e.g. childcare, school fees, care fees - none of which are relevant.  Can anyone please help?

fatbelly

A dependent is someone you are getting child benefit for.

Your girls are non-dependents.

You are a partner

etienneg

fatbelly said:

A dependent is someone you are getting child benefit for.

Your girls are non-dependents.

You are a partner

This is a silly answer. Unless fatbelly comes back with some kind of authority or source for his comments, I suggest you ignore them. Apart from anything else, someone can be more than one thing at the same time, such as a husband and father.

According to my dictionary, a person is a dependent if they are "relying on someone or something for financial or other support".
In other words, does your husband pay anything essential for you and/or your daughters that you or they would not be able to pay themselves? You say that you are a housewife and do not work. So, unless you have a private income that you haven't mentioned(!), who pays for your food and a roof over your head? If this is your husband, you are a dependent. Apply similar logic to your daughters. If they pay their share of all essentials, they are not dependants; but if they rely on your husband not charging them rent, for instance, they are dependents.

The list you quote for the second question gives examples (that's what "e.g." means). It is not meant to be an exhaustive list, so the few given may well not be applicable in your particular case. You need to make up the list that does apply to you - housing, food and so on, maybe the running of a car. Only the two of you know what is applicable in your case.

sourcrates

Financially dependent it means, quite simply, if your getting child benefit for your children, then they are under 16, and are dependents, if not, they are over 16 and you are not financially responsible for them.
They want to know his financial commitments, you are the partner, not a dependent, in this instance they are referring to children, so he has no financial dependents.

MEM62

etienneg said:

fatbelly said:

A dependent is someone you are getting child benefit for.

Your girls are non-dependents.

You are a partner

This is a silly answer. Unless fatbelly comes back with some kind of authority or source for his comments, I suggest you ignore them. Apart from anything else, someone can be more than one thing at the same time, such as a husband and father.

According to my dictionary, a person is a dependent if they are "relying on someone or something for financial or other support".
In other words, does your husband pay anything essential for you and/or your daughters that you or they would not be able to pay themselves? You say that you are a housewife and do not work. So, unless you have a private income that you haven't mentioned(!), who pays for your food and a roof over your head? If this is your husband, you are a dependent. Apply similar logic to your daughters. If they pay their share of all essentials, they are not dependants; but if they rely on your husband not charging them rent, for instance, they are dependents.

The list you quote for the second question gives examples (that's what "e.g." means). It is not meant to be an exhaustive list, so the few given may well not be applicable in your particular case. You need to make up the list that does apply to you - housing, food and so on, maybe the running of a car. Only the two of you know what is applicable in your case.

OP You may safely ignore this advice.  The term 'dependent' in financial terms has is own meaning,as explained by fatbelly and sourcrates and is not derived from the dictionary definition.