lone parent but partner stays over

edellc

sorry if this has been asked before

say if you are a lone parent claiming lone parent allowance and living in a social house with your child

say also that this person has a boyfriend and has had this boyfriend since the child was a toddler and is not well into primary school (child see the BF as his dad and calls him dad)

say this person has her boyfriend staying over most of the week however he owns his own house in the city where he stays when working and then stays with her every weekend and most times from wed-sunday night

is this person still a lone parent or is it classed as living with someone?

Balagan

This person would be classed as living with someone and therefore not entitled to a One-Parent Family payment.

One-Parent Family Payment (OFP) is a payment for men and women who are bringing children up without the support of a partner

To qualify for a One-Parent Family Payment you must...
Not be living with a spouse, civil partner or cohabiting

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/social_welfare/social_welfare_payments/social_welfare_payments_to_families_and_children/one_parent_family_payment.html

a cohabitant is one of 2 adults (whether of the same or the opposite sex) who live together as a couple in an intimate and committed relationship and who are not related to each other within the prohibited degrees of relationship or married to each other or civil partners of each other.
http://www.welfare.ie/EN/OperationalGuidelines/pages/cohabit.aspx

Fraudulent claims
Penalties for false or misleading statements made to obtain a social welfare payment for you or for any other person, may result in large fines or prison for up to three years. In 2011 the Department of Social Protection published a new Fraud Initiative (pdf) to tackle social welfare fraud.http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/social_welfare/irish_social_welfare_system/social_welfare_system_in_ireland.html

edellc

Yeah but the partner has a house in the city and stays there when working and then with her when not working, so can easily say he is living in the city full time

Also a lone parent is entitled to have a partner and the partner would be entitled to stay over some of the week, is that true and if so how many days a week is the partner entitled to stay over??

maryk123

he is staying 5 days out of 7 then they are not a lone parent. i dont think it takes too much to think about this.

juan.kerr

edellc wrote: »

Yeah but the partner has a house in the city and stays there when working and then with her when not working, so can easily say he is living in the city full time

It's not clear - are you looking for a legitimate answer, or the answer you want to hear?

edellc

im looking for a legitimate answer to this, its not me that i am talking about and tbh i am unsure what to do with the answer

its a person i know not a friend but a friend of a friend, who has a child who is 8 and claiming lone parents and also has a council house yet she is with her current partner since her child was 2years old, he owns a house in the city and works there and stays with her when not working, this can be anything from the weekend up to 4 days a week.

She has all the latest gadgets and gizmos and is always bragging about what her partner is buying her as he has a very good job and does financially support her and pay for a vast majority of things, they recently got a new car and she has gotten the new ipad, and I would feel uncomfortable about reporting her but feel she is deceiving the system in some way but im not sure if the system sees it that way

cee_jay

Guidelines on cohabitation are here: http://www.welfare.ie/EN/OperationalGuidelines/Pages/cohabit.aspx
You can report suspected fraud here:
http://www.welfare.ie/EN/ContactUs/Pages/reportfraud.aspx
Its not up to you to decide if fraud is being committed or not, that is the role of the inspector. They can examine the case and weigh up any evidence gathered from their investigation.

edellc

yeah no i know its not up to me to decide, but i feel so wrong to report her as i would only be doing it as i am sick of hearing how she has this and that and how her bf buys her everything, whereas I lost my job and stuggle financially and have worked all my life for the little I have whereas she has never had a job but has the best of everything thanks to the BF. I am also annoyed she has a council house as I was never able to buy - never made enough and feel that I have done everything right but just never earned enough to get on the property ladder and hate feeling like a nomad moving all the time whereas she seems to get it all handed to her

so i know i would be reporting her due to my annoyance at my situation and being honest and still ending up with nothing whereas i feel she has deceived and has the best of everything

so i dont know if i could live with the guilt if i reported her and is there really a case for her to be reported, i mean he has his own house in the city, yes everything in her home was bought by him and her son calls him dad but there is no proof he is living with her

cee_jay

The moral implications of reporting someone for fraud or not are beyond this forum. This forum charter explicitly states fraud cannot be discussed. Therefore I am locking this thread.