ESA and marriage

Hi there, will I lose my ESA allowance when I get married?

sjbkent wrote: Hi there, will I lose my ESA allowance when I get married?

Hi sjbk,

That will depend on a number of things.

If you are in receipt of Income Related (IR) ESA then your partner's income, would be taken into account.

Also, if your partner works over 24 hours/week, this may mean that you are no longer entitled to IR ESA :

24 hour work rule for ESA(IR)

You and your partner's joint household income, capital, assets and savings would also be taken into account.

Any capital, assets or savings below £6000, will not make any difference.

Deductions may be made for any monies between £6,000 and £16,000.

If you had £16,000 or above you would not be entitled to any IR ESA. :

Asset rule for ESA(IR)

If you are in receipt of Contribution Based (CB) ESA only, then none of the above would make any difference, and you would still receive it.

Of course, if your partner is also in receipt of benefits, that may be a different matter again, and you would need to get face to face advice.

Where to get advice?

This : Benefits Calculator may help.

If you have any doubts whatsoever, I would advise that you seek advice, as the above is only a generic answer to a generic question, and not particular to your own individual circumstances.

bro58

In addition to Bro's excellent advice, I would like to point out that it is not marriage itself that will change things. If either of you are on income-related benefit, DWP must be informed as soon as you move in together.