The High Court ruled that Carer’s Allowance, Domiciliary Care Allowance, Child Benefit and the Respite Care Grant must be included among the financial resources considered when assessing maintenance. It said the statutory exception applies only to one-parent family payments and supplementary welfare allowance.
Mr Justice Max Barrett gave the ruling on 8 November 2016 in a consultative case stated from the District Court. The District Court had asked five questions of law about how section 5(4) of the Family Law (Maintenance of Spouses and Children) Act 1976 applied to payments received by Ms B. The High Court answered the legal questions; it did not make a maintenance order or set an amount.
Ms B, a separated mother of three, had sought €950 a week: €500 in spousal maintenance and €150 for each dependent child. By the time of the District Court hearing, she received weekly Carer’s Allowance of €268.20, Domiciliary Care Allowance of €142.85, Child Benefit of €90 and a Respite Care Grant of €25. Counsel for Ms B argued those payments should not count in calculating maintenance; counsel for Mr B argued they should.
The High Court traced the statutory wording and concluded that the exception from considering income and financial resources covered a one-parent family payment and supplementary welfare allowance. It rejected the proposition that any of the four payments at issue fell within that exception.
On child maintenance, the court said the District Court was required to consider income included under section 5(4), and that all four payments received by Ms B were included. On spousal maintenance, it referred the District Court to that answer. The judgment also said any maintenance order would have to be made within the context and limits of the income, earning capacity, property and other financial resources identified under the section.
The High Court’s decision settled the interpretation issue put to it. The source does not state the District Court’s later decision on the maintenance application.