2.—(1) Amend the Child Support (Maintenance Assessments and Special Cases) Regulations 1992 M1 as follows.
(2) In regulation 1 (citation, commencement and interpretation), in paragraph (2)—
(a)for the definition of “couple” substitute the following definition—
““couple” means—
(a)a man and woman who are married to each other and are members of the same household;
(b)a man and woman who are not married to each other but are living together as husband and wife;
(c)two people of the same sex who are civil partners of each other and are members of the same household; or
(d)two people of the same sex who are not civil partners of each other but are living together as if they were civil partners,
and for the purposes of paragraph (d), two people of the same sex are to be regarded as living together as if they were civil partners if, but only if, they would be regarded as living together as husband and wife were they instead two people of the opposite sex;;”;
(b)in the definition of “family” for “a married or unmarried couple” (in each place) substitute “ a couple ”;
(c)omit the definitions of “married couple” and “unmarried couple”;
(d)in the definition of “partner”, in paragraph (a) for “a married or unmarried couple” substitute “ a couple ”.
(3) In regulation 18 (excessive housing costs), in paragraph (2)(b), after “divorce from,” insert “ dissolution of a civil partnership with, ”.
(4) In Schedule 1 (calculation of N and M)—
(a)in paragraph 9A(2) M2, for “a war widow's pension and a war widower's pension” substitute “ a war widow's pension, a war widower's pension and a surviving civil partner's war pension ”;
(b)in paragraph 22(1B)(2) M3, for “a war widow's pension and a war widower's pension” substitute “ a war widow's pension, a war widower's pension and a surviving civil partner's war pension ”.
(5) In Schedule 2 (amounts to be disregarded when calculating or estimating N and M)—
(a)in paragraph 45—
(i)after “a divorce” insert “ , dissolution of a civil partnership ”;
(ii)after “the divorce” in sub-paragraph (a) insert “ , dissolution of the civil partnership ”;
(b)in paragraph 48F M4, for “widows and widowers” (in each place) substitute “ widows, widowers and surviving civil partners ”.
(6) In Schedule 3 (eligible housing costs), in paragraph 7, in the definition of “close relative”, for “or the spouse of any of the preceding persons or, if that person is one of an unmarried couple, the other member of that couple” substitute “ or if any of the preceding persons is one member of a couple, the other member of that couple ”.
Marginal Citations
M2Paragraph 9A was inserted by 1999/977, and sub-paragraph (2) was amended by S.I. 2003/2779.
M3Paragraph 22 was renumbered as paragraph 22(1) by S.I. 1996/1345, paragraph 22(1B) was inserted by S.I. 1999/977 and paragraph 22(1B)(2) was amended by S.I. 2003/2779.
M4Paragraph 48F was inserted by S.I. 2003/2779.