Supreme Court rules in favour of unmarried 'widow'

clock • 2 min read

Court rules government's refusal to pay benefits breached family's human rights

The Supreme Court has ruled, with a four-to-one majority, that a Northern Irish mother is entitled to widowed parent's allowance following the death of her partner, despite the couple having not being married. Siobhan McLaughlin was denied both a lump sum of £2,000 bereavement payment, as well as a widowed parent allowance of £118 a week, despite having lived with John Adams and having four children by him. Ms McLaughlin had initially won a case in 2015 at the High Court on the grounds that refusal to pay her widow's allowance on the grounds of her marriage status violated the Human R...

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