Jobseekers Allowance & Pregnant & Married.

mandy30

Hi,

Just need some advice from someone in the know about benefits.

I was made redundant late last year and I have been on JSA since.
In this time I also got married in UK, but have not informed the welfare office.

My questions are:

- If I tell SW I got married, will they withdraw payment due to husbands earnings? I have loans etc to pay and fear going to court if I can't pay.

- As I am still using my maiden name, if I register with hospitals for new baby in married name, will that cause all manner of trouble? Am I better off using my maiden name as I am now?

- How do I go about changing my name/informing SW I am married and what do they do once I tell them?

Please, no posters lecturing me on not telling social welfare. I have worked my entire life and all this has just happened in the last 3 months.

Any advice to the questions would be greatly appreciated.

eastbono

mandy30 wrote: »

Hi,

Just need some advice from someone in the know about benefits.

I was made redundant late last year and I have been on JSA since.
In this time I also got married in UK, but have not informed the welfare office.

My questions are:

- If I tell SW I got married, will they withdraw payment due to husbands earnings? I have loans etc to pay and fear going to court if I can't pay.

- As I am still using my maiden name, if I register with hospitals for new baby in married name, will that cause all manner of trouble? Am I better off using my maiden name as I am now?

- How do I go about changing my name/informing SW I am married and what do they do once I tell them?

Please, no posters lecturing me on not telling social welfare. I have worked my entire life and all this has just happened in the last 3 months.

Any advice to the questions would be greatly appreciated.

Are you on jobseekers benefit or allowance?

If allowance you need to go to your local sw office and inform them that you are now married. They will want to take a copy of your marriage certificate and will need payslips for your husband and will review your claim from the date of marriage. If you husband is working it is possible that you may not receive any jsa depending on his earnings or your payment may be reduced and an overpayment will be assessed against you.

If its benefit this is not means tested but you may be entitled to some payment for him as an additional adult depending on his earnings.

Slydice

First of all, congrats on your baby news and best of luck.

As for social welfare, If you don't tell them and you continue to recieve payments as if you were not married, then you are probably going to be breaking some law.

I'd think about it very carefully if I was you.

Here is the citizens info page:
http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/social_welfare/social_welfare_payments/social_welfare_payments_to_families_and_children/one_parent_family_payment.html

It seems as if there are conditions where a person can be married and still recieve the allowance.

amtw

If you were working for 2 years before you were made redundant then you should be on Jobseekers Benefit for 9 months, You will get JB for 1 year if you working for more then 5 years. This payment is based solely on the fact that you have paid PRSI, it does not matter that you are married and your husband is working. When you exhaust your entitlement to JB you will be means tested for Jobseekers Allowance, and there is a good chance that you will not get anything if your husband is working. The Social Welfare don't care if you are married but whether or not you are living together married or not.

If your are on Jobseekers Allowance then the sooner you tell them you are now living with someone then the less back money they will try to recoup from you. Go to your local SW office and tell them, they will send you a bill if there is an overpayment but you can arrange to pay it back by installments (small ones).

You can call yourself any name you like, you don't have to use your husbands name, that is a custom only and there is no legal requirement to do so. When you choose a hospital you will fill in forms but don't worry about what name you use, because you are married your husband has automatic joint guardianship of the baby, but you are better off just putting down the right information from the start there is no reason not to.

Don't worry about the Social Welfare, enjoy being pregnant and newly married, congratulations.

Moonbeam

In Ireland for social welfare it doesn't really matter if you are married but co habiting to be means tested for jsa.