We were expecting to close this blog on 6th May 2010, along with the election, but, since the election hasn't ended yet, neither will the blog. May as well add a few points!
I'm all for this one. As a widower, should I remarry I would lose 'Widowed Parent's Allowance' and never get it back. But it's not my money, it's for my boy. I'd add to your statement here, the need for equality. Again - very local to me - but my allowance is a taxable benefit. But, if I was divorced, maintenance payments don't count towards earned income - so aren't taxed.
Donkeys' years ago there was a television comedy called 'Misleading Cases' in which Roy Dotrice played a character who was always getting into extraordinary legal situations and landing up in front of a judge played by Alastair Sim. (I hope I'm remembering this properly, I was a child when I saw them.)
The episode which has lingered in my mind moved me as well as making me laugh. He and his wife, realising they would be financially better off if they weren't married, divorced. In the end, they felt so peculiar living with each other without being married, they re-married, money withstanding.
My motivation in putting this forward arose from seeing what happens to relationships because of the way co-habitation results in a loss of benefit. I have not been in the situation myself so I am seeing things from the outside and may be getting it wrong. However, it seems to me that the pressure to declare co-habitation can either push people apart at a delicate stage in their relationship, or push them further together in a way that they may regret later.
Where relationships are growing, it can sometimes be difficult to tell whether it is, or is not, a co-habitation. A couple may still feel they have yet to decide how committed they are to each other . . . but neighbours and Benefit Agencies alike will have their own views on the matter . . . more pressure.
One last point - at a time when the country is looking for ways to save money, simplifying things is one way to do it. Fewer checks, fewer forms, less time involved . . money for the state saved.
2 comments:
I'm all for this one. As a widower, should I remarry I would lose 'Widowed Parent's Allowance' and never get it back. But it's not my money, it's for my boy. I'd add to your statement here, the need for equality. Again - very local to me - but my allowance is a taxable benefit. But, if I was divorced, maintenance payments don't count towards earned income - so aren't taxed.
Hello Chris.
Donkeys' years ago there was a television comedy called 'Misleading Cases' in which Roy Dotrice played a character who was always getting into extraordinary legal situations and landing up in front of a judge played by Alastair Sim. (I hope I'm remembering this properly, I was a child when I saw them.)
The episode which has lingered in my mind moved me as well as making me laugh. He and his wife, realising they would be financially better off if they weren't married, divorced. In the end, they felt so peculiar living with each other without being married, they re-married, money withstanding.
My motivation in putting this forward arose from seeing what happens to relationships because of the way co-habitation results in a loss of benefit. I have not been in the situation myself so I am seeing things from the outside and may be getting it wrong. However, it seems to me that the pressure to declare co-habitation can either push people apart at a delicate stage in their relationship, or push them further together in a way that they may regret later.
Where relationships are growing, it can sometimes be difficult to tell whether it is, or is not, a co-habitation. A couple may still feel they have yet to decide how committed they are to each other . . . but neighbours and Benefit Agencies alike will have their own views on the matter . . . more pressure.
One last point - at a time when the country is looking for ways to save money, simplifying things is one way to do it. Fewer checks, fewer forms, less time involved . . money for the state saved.
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