The State Pension Credit Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003

Persons treated as being or not being members of the same household

5.—(1) A person is to be treated as not being a member of the same household as the claimant if –

(a) he is living away from the claimant and –

(i) he does not intend to resume living with the claimant, or

(ii) his absence is likely to exceed 52 weeks except where there are exceptional circumstances (for example the person is in hospital or otherwise has no control over the length of his absence), and the absence is unlikely to be substantially more than 52 weeks;

(b) he or the claimant is permanently in a residential care home or nursing home;

(c) he or the claimant is, or both are –

(i) patients detained in accommodation provided under Article 110 of the Mental Health (Northern Ireland) Order 1986;

(ii) detained in custody pending trial or sentence upon conviction or under a sentence imposed by a court, or

(iii) on temporary release in accordance with the provisions of the Prison Act (Northern Ireland) 1953(1);

(d) the claimant is abroad and does not satisfy either the circumstances specified in paragraph (2) or (3) of regulation 3 (persons temporarily absent from Northern Ireland);

(e) either he or the claimant is not in Northern Ireland and is not treated as being in Northern Ireland in accordance with regulation 4;

(f) he is not in Northern Ireland and none of the circumstances specified in either paragraph (2) or (3) of regulation 3 would, had he been the claimant, apply in his case;

(g) he is not habitually resident in the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man or the Republic of Ireland;

(h) he is a person subject to immigration control within the meaning of section 115(9) of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999(2).

(2) Subject to paragraph (1), partners shall be treated as members of the same household notwithstanding that they are temporarily living apart.

(1)

1953 c. 18 (N.I.)

(2)

1999 c. 33