Section 77 – Reserve successor: carer
232.A carer is entitled to succeed as a reserve successor if he or she occupied the dwelling as his or her only or principal home at the time the contract-holder died. To qualify as a carer who is a reserve successor, a person must have been providing a substantial amount of care (or intending to provide a substantial amount of care) for the contract-holder, or a member of the contract-holder’s family who was living with the contract-holder when the care was provided, at any time in the period of 12 months ending with the contract-holder’s death. For the purposes of working out whether care has been provided in a period of 12 months, if the contract-holder who has died was a priority successor in relation to the contract, any time spent caring for the original contract-holder can be taken into account.
233.The carer must also have occupied the dwelling or lived with the contract-holder (or, if the contract-holder was a priority successor, lived with the original contract-holder) throughout the period of 12 months ending with the contract-holder’s death, and must have no other dwelling they are entitled to occupy as a home at the time of the contract-holder’s death. A carer employed to provide care, or providing care under a contract, does not meet the conditions for being a ‘carer’ for these purposes, and does not qualify as a reserve successor under the Act on that basis.