Decision Summary Information

Neutral Citation Number:
Reported Number:	R(IS)1/99
File Number:	CIS 4935 1997
Appellant:
Respondent:
Judge/Commissioner:	Judge J. P. Powell
Date Of Decision:	12/02/1998
Date Added:	21/06/2002
Main Category:	Marriage, civil partnerships and living together
Main Subcategory:	other
Secondary Category:
Secondary Subcategory:
Notes:	Aggregation - married couple living in residential care - whether "members of the same household" The five claimants lived in the same residential care homes as their respective spouses. The adjudication officers decided that each was a member of the same household as his or her spouse so that their capital and income fell to be aggregated. Tribunals allowed their appeals. The adjudication officers appealed to the Commissioner. Held, dismissing the appeals, that: 1. there cannot be a "household" unless there is a domestic establishment (paragraph 13); 2. a domestic establishment involves a group of two or more persons living together as a unit where that group enjoys a reasonable level of independence and self-sufficiency (paragraph 14): 3. whether this test is satisfied is a matter for the common sense of the appeal tribunal; facts which may be of the greatest assistance in one case may be of little or no help in another (paragraph 17): 4. the tribunals did not err in law in their approaches to the cases before them (paragraphs 19 to 24).
Decision(s) to Download:	Is01_99.doc