These Regulations may be cited as the State Pension Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015 and shall come into operation on 6th April 2016.

In these Regulations—

• “the 1966 Act” means the National Insurance Act (Northern Ireland) 1966;

• “the Act” means the Pensions Act (Northern Ireland) 2015;

• “deferral period” means the period during which a person’s entitlement to a state pension under Part 1 of the Act is deferred;

• “graduated retirement benefit” means any benefit under section 35 (graduated retirement benefit) or section 36 (special provisions as to graduated retirement benefit for widows) of the 1966 Act.

For the purposes of the following Regulations, two people are to be treated as if they are not married to each other in relation to times when either of them is married to a third person.