{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/mental-capacity-act-northern-ireland-2016/section-304",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/mental-capacity-act-northern-ireland-2016/section-304.json",
  "legislation": "nia/2016/18",
  "legislation_title": "Mental Capacity Act (Northern Ireland) 2016",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/mental-capacity-act-northern-ireland-2016",
  "path": "section/304",
  "kind": "section",
  "number": "304",
  "heading": "Persons “unconnected with” a person",
  "text": "(1) For the purposes of this Act a person (“B”) is “unconnected with” another person (“A”) unless—\n(a) B receives any payments made on account of A's maintenance, or has an interest in the receipt of any such payments;\n(b) B is A's spouse, civil partner, parent, child, brother, sister, mother-in law, father-in law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, sister-in-law or brother-in-law;\n(c) B is living with A as if he or she were A's spouse or civil partner and has been so living for a period of at least 6 months;\n(d) B is someone with whom A lives and has been living for a period of at least 5 years; or\n(e) A is living in a relevant place and, at the time when A started living in the relevant place—\n(i) B had been living with A as if he or she were A's spouse or civil partner for a period of at least 6 months; or\n(ii) B was a person with whom A had been living for a period of at least 5 years.\n(2) In subsection (1)(e) “relevant place” means—\n(a) a hospital;\n(b) a care home; or\n(c) a place of a prescribed description.",
  "extent": null,
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/nia/2016/18/section/304",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-29T20:19:54.781348+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}