The Social Security (Retirement Pensions and Graduated Retirement Benefit) (Widowers and Civil Partnership) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005

Amendment of the Social Security (Graduated Retirement Benefit) (No. 2) Regulations

2.—(1) The Social Security (Graduated Retirement Benefit) (No. 2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1978(1) shall be amended in accordance with paragraphs (2) to (5).

(2) In regulation 1A(c)(2) (application of section 135 of the Administration Act), for “widows and widowers” there shall be substituted “widows, widowers and surviving civil partners”.

(3) In regulation 2(2) (continuation in force of sections 35, 36 and 110(1) of the Act of 1966)—

(a) at the end of sub-paragraph (b), “and” shall be omitted; and

(b) after sub-paragraph (c) there shall be added—

“; and

(d) to extend section 36 of the Act of 1966(3) (increase of woman’s retirement pension by reference to her late husband’s graduated retirement benefit) to civil partners and surviving civil partners”.

(4) In Schedule 1 (which sets out sections 35 and 36 of the National Insurance Act (Northern Ireland) 1966 as continued in force by those regulations), in section 36 (special provisions as to graduated retirement benefit for widows and widowers)—

(a) in subsection (1)(4)—

(i) after paragraph (b) there shall be inserted—

“; or

(c) where a person, having paid graduated contributions as an insured person, dies on or after 5th December 2005 leaving a surviving civil partner, and they have both attained pensionable age at the time of his or her death”,

(ii) for “widow or widower” there shall be substituted “widow, widower or surviving civil partner”, and

(iii) after “former spouse” there shall be inserted “or former civil partner”;

(b) in subsection (2)(5), after “deceased spouse's” (in each place where it occurs) there shall be inserted “or deceased civil partner's”;

(c) in subsection (3), after “marriage” there shall be inserted “or civil partnership”; and

(d) in subsection (4)—

(i) after “marries” there shall be inserted “, or as the case may be, a civil partner he or she forms a civil partnership with,”,

(ii) after “married” there shall be inserted “or who has formed a civil partnership more than once or who has been both married and formed a civil partnership”, and

(iii) after “spouses” there shall be inserted “or civil partners”.

(5) In Schedule 3 (which sets out regulations 2 and 3 of the 1978 Regulations as modified by those regulations), in regulation 3 (graduated retirement benefit for persons who have been married more than once)—

(a) in the heading, after “persons who have been married more than once” there shall be inserted “or have formed more than one civil partnership or who have been both married and formed a civil partnership”;

(b) after “person who has been married more than once” there shall be inserted “or has formed more than one civil partnership or who has been both married and formed a civil partnership”;

(c) after “second or subsequent spouse” there shall be inserted “or second or subsequent civil partner”;

(d) after “first-mentioned spouse” there shall be inserted “or first-mentioned civil partner”.

(1)

S.R. 1978 No. 105; relevant amending Regulations are S.R. 1989 No. 373 and S.R. 1995 No. 483; see also S.R. 2005 No.121

(2)

Regulation 1A was inserted by regulation 2 of S.R. 1995 No. 483

(3)

1966 c. 6 (N.I.); sections 35 and 36 were repealed by the Social Security Act 1973 (c. 38) but are continued in force by regulation 2 of S.R. 1978 No. 105

(4)

Subsection (1) was amended by regulation 5(2)(b)(i) of S.R. 1989 No. 373

(5)

Subsection (2) was amended by regulation 5(2)(b)(ii) of S.R. 1989 No. 373