Banner Image

Legal News

Unmarried Partners and Widowed Parent's Allowance - Supreme Court Rules

A decision of the Supreme Court announced today has important implications for unmarried partners of people who have died.

The case involved a woman from Northern Ireland who was denied Widowed Parent's Allowance (WPA) after her partner of 23 years passed away. WPA is available to those whose husband, wife or civil partner died before 6 April 2017 under certain conditions, one of which is that the surviving spouse must be claiming Child Benefit for at least one child  Had they been married, she would have been able to claim WPA.

The Court has now ruled that that denial is incompatible with human rights law. This decision is likely to pave the way for claims in similar circumstances to be made across the UK.

For more information or to speak to one of our experts, please call us on 01606 48777

Get in touch

  • "Extremely fair, understanding, caring and knowledgeable in all aspects of family law."

    Mr P
  • "Amazing attitude and caring towards its customers in life's most stressful situations."

    Anonymous
  • "Highly recommend the conveyancing services. Extremely satisfied with the overall level of service provided - kept me informed at every stage, providing good information and advice."

    Heather Woolley
  • "Excellent efficient will-writing service from very friendly staff. Everything explained to us so that we understood it. Fantastic!"

    Jane Imisson
The contents of this article are intended for general information purposes only and shall not be deemed to be, or constitute legal advice. We cannot accept responsibility for any loss as a result of acts or omissions taken in respect of this article.