Paragraph 2 No maintenance assessment or calculation in force: applications by different persons for maintenanceF1F2

Where the Department receives more than one application for maintenance with respect to the same person with care and absent parent or non-resident parent, as the case may be, it shall, if no maintenance assessment under the former Order or maintenance calculation under the Order, as the case may be, has been made in relation to any of the applications, determine which application it shall proceed with in accordance with sub-paragraphs (2) to (8).

Where an application by a person with care is made under Article 7 of the former Order or of the OrderF3... and an application is made by an absent parent or non-resident parent under Article 7 of the former Order or of the Order, as the case may be, the Department shall proceed with the application of the person with care.

Where there is one absent parent and one non-resident parent in respect of the same qualifying child and an assessment application and a calculation application is received from each such person respectively, the Department shall proceed with both applications, treating them as a single application.

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Where –

the Department shall proceed with the application of the person who does not fall to be treated as an absent parent under regulation 20 of the Maintenance Assessments and Special Cases Regulations, or as a non-resident parent under regulation 8 of the Maintenance Calculations and Special Cases Regulations, as the case may be.

Where, in a case falling within sub-paragraph (5), there is more than one person who does not fall to be treated as an absent parent under regulation 20 of the Maintenance Assessments and Special Cases Regulations or as a non-resident parent under regulation 8 of the Maintenance Calculations and Special Cases Regulations, as the case may be, the Department shall apply the provisions of paragraph (7) to determine which application it shall proceed with.

Where –

the Department shall proceed with the application of the principal provider of day to day care, as determined in accordance with sub-paragraph (8).

For the purposes of sub-paragraph (7), the application of the principal provider is, where –

Subject to sub-paragraph (10), where, in any case falling within sub-paragraphs (2) to (7), the applications are not in respect of identical qualifying children, the application that the Department is to proceed with as determined by those sub-paragraphs shall be treated as an application with respect to all of the qualifying children with respect to whom the applications were made.

Where the Department is satisfied that the same person with care does not provide the principal day to day care for all of the qualifying children with respect to whom an application would but for the provisions of this paragraph be made under sub-paragraph (9), it shall make separate maintenance assessments under the former Order or maintenance calculations under the Order, as the case may be, in relation to each person with care providing such principal day to day care.

For the purposes of this paragraph “day to day care” has the same meaning as in the Maintenance Assessments and Special Cases Regulations or the Maintenance Calculations and Special Cases Regulations, as the case may be.

For the purposes of sub-paragraph (8), where a person has made an election under section 11A(1) of the Social Security Administration (Northern Ireland) Act 1992 for payments of child benefit not to be made in respect of a child, that person is to be treated as the person to whom child benefit is being paid in respect of that child.