Who is a deserted wife

Deputy Sheriffs are messengers of Court. They are Court officers who must do work for the courts and the public. In doing so they must not operate like lawyers. It is not their duty to prepare summonses on behalf of members of the public. A Deputy Sheriff cannot represent a person in Court as he is not a lawyer.

Only lawyers are allowed by law to do that. Deputy Sheriffs are not appointed to operate debt collection companies. Although they collect debts on behalf of judgment creditors they are not debt collectors in the sense of running debt collection business.

They are officers of the Court who will only collect debts pursuant to a judgment of Court. Presently there is no law regulating the appointment of Debt Collectors. Debt Collectors derive their authority from the general functions of their companies. To note is that the office of the Registrar does not appoint debt collectors. A Deputy Sheriff is given instruction by the party who won the case Plaintiff to go and attach the property of the party who lost the case Defendant.

The writ contains the names of the defendant and his addresses. The Deputy Sheriff will then go to the Defendant's house and demand that he pays the money owing. If he fails to pay, attach his movable property like, furniture, TV, motor vehicles etc. He must not attach beds that he uses or are used by his children, food, clothes, tools of trade of a certain value etc.

From Department of Social Protection. Deserted Wife's Benefit is a payment made to a woman deserted by her husband. Entitlement to payment is based on social insurance contributions paid by the wife or her husband.

Deserted Wife's Benefit scheme was closed off to new applications with effect from 2 January , when One-Parent Family Payment was introduced. See also separate guideline on One-Parent Family Payment. A person who qualified for Deserted Wife's Benefit must continue to satisfy the following conditions to retain entitlement to the payment. A person who is divorced from her husband being a divorce that is recognised as valid in the State and has not remarried, continues to be regarded as a deserted wife and qualifies for continued payment of Deserted Wife's Benefit, provided all other qualifying conditions are satisfied for receipt of benefit.

A child is regarded as a "qualified child" for Deserted Wife's Benefit purposes, where the child is under 18 years and residing with the person in receipt of Deserted Wife's Benefit. A child over the age of 18 may also be regarded as a "qualified child" up to the age of 22 or the end of the academic year in which the child reaches age 22 where the child is in full-time education by day in an institution of education.

There is no earnings limit operational for persons in receipt of Deserted Wife's Benefit where the claim was made on or before 30 August Income range and corresponding percentage of personal rate payable. Men and women are required under Social Welfare legislation to maintain their spouse and children.

A husband who fails to maintain his family, must contribute to the cost of any Deserted Wife's Benefit payment made to his wife, under the Liability to Maintain Family provisions effective from November See separate guideline on Liability to Maintain a Family.

Where a person in receipt of Deserted Wife's Benefit is not receiving maintenance from her husband or is receiving maintenance which is less than the rate of Deserted Wife's Benefit appropriate to her family size, she is required to make, and continue to make, efforts to obtain maintenance from her husband in respect of herself and qualified children.

See Appendix A for what constitutes the making of efforts to get maintenance. Where a person in receipt of Deserted Wife's Benefit is adequately maintained by her husband i.

Where a person in receipt of Deserted Wife's Benefit is in receipt of a maintenance payment by way of a Family Law Court Order, she is liable to transfer any payments received through the court to the Minister for Social Protection, including any payment made in respect of children. Deserted Wife's Benefit is not payable to a person residing outside the State.

A person is however, allowed reasonable absences i. If a claimant leaves the state for a period exceeding 3 weeks, she will be disqualified from receiving payment from the date of departure. However, payment can be restored if the period of disqualification does not exceed 12 months. See Part 2 and separate guideline on Absence from the State. A person is disqualified from receiving the personal rate of payment of Deserted Wife's Benefit for any period during which she is undergoing penal servitude, imprisonment or detention in legal custody.

Increases for a qualified child may be paid to another person in certain circumstances. See Part 2 and separate guideline on Payment Methods for more detail. Note: A yearly average of 39 contributions paid or credited over the 3 or 5 years, prior to date of desertion of spouse or pension age, whichever is the earlier, gives entitlement to the maximum rate of pension.

See the Rates Booklet SW 19 which is issued annually for the current rates of payment. Persons who previously had to opt to transfer to One-Parent Family Payment in order to be accepted as a participant on the Community Employment Scheme, may now apply to have their entitlement to Deserted Wife's Benefit restored. Since 1 January new participants cannot be in receipt of concurrent Social Welfare Payments.

Existing participants in receipt of Deserted Wives Benefit will continue to get their Social Welfare Payment until they are no longer eligible to participate in a CE Scheme or they leave the scheme voluntarily. See separate guideline on One-Parent Family Payment for more details.

Persons in receipt of Deserted Wife's Benefit, are eligible, subject, to certain conditions, to participate in the Back to Education Programme. They must be over the age of 21 and in receipt of Deserted Wife's Benefit for 6 months.

Under the Back to Education Programme, a person in receipt of Deserted Wife's Benefit may take up approved second and third level education and retain social welfare payment and any secondary benefits which they are already entitled to. As the Back to Education allowance is not means tested, a person may work to supplement her income.

Application should be made to the department to participate in this scheme as soon as a place has been secured on an approved second or third level course. See separate guidelines on Back to Education Allowance for more detail. To participate, a person must be in receipt of Deserted Wife's Benefit, for 6 months and be at least 21 years of age. Application should be made to the local ETB for a place on a scheme. Secondary benefits may also be retained as above. Application should be made to the department when a place has been secured on a course.

See separate guideline on VTOS. Where a person in receipt of Deserted Wife's Benefit is working for an employer and on low income, she may be entitled to this supplement in addition to Deserted Wife's Benefit. Certain conditions apply in relation to hours of work, duration of employment. A means test also applies. See separate guideline on Working Family Payment for more detail. Payable to persons aged 66 or over and who are living alone. This would apply where a person is living entirely alone or where the child ren is in full-time education living away from home and, as a result, the person is living entirely alone for most of the year.

See separate guideline on Living Alone Increase for more detail. Payable for a 26 week period from October to April if a person is living alone or with qualified children or other categories of exempted persons. Only one Fuel allowance per household is payable. A person must apply for the allowance. See separate guideline on National Fuel Scheme for more detail. An increased payment of Deserted Wife's Benefit is made to a person aged 66 and over.

There is no need to apply for this increase which is paid automatically by the department. An additional allowance is payable to persons who are 80 years or over. On the death of a qualified child, payment continues for six weeks at the rate of payment at the date of death.

Notification of the date of death should be given to the department at the earliest possible date. See separate guideline on Payment Methods for further detail.

Note: The Bereavement Grant has been discontinued and is not payable for deaths occurring on or after 1 January From 27 September a person who is claiming Deserted Wife's Benefit and who is providing full time care to another person may now apply for Carer's Allowance and retain their current payment in full.

See Carer's Allowance guidelines for more information. When a person in receipt of Deserted Wife's Benefit reaches age 66, a Free Travel Pass is issued automatically by the department. Benefits available from the relevant Health Service Executive. See separate guideline on Supplementary Welfare Allowance Scheme for further details.

Deserted Wife's Benefit is not payable in addition to other social welfare payments, except in the following circumstances:. One complaint may contain the allegation that a father has deserted or left without means of support more than one child, and one order may be made in respect of more than one child, but the order shall specify the amount payable in respect of each child.

Where it appears on the hearing of a complaint that a father has left his child without means of support, the Court shall make such order as to the custody and support of the child as appears to it just, having regard primarily to the welfare of the child, and an order may be made notwithstanding that the father is willing to receive and maintain the child in his own home or elsewhere. In all proceedings under this Act the spouse of a person is a competent and compellable witness for or against that person.

On the hearing of a compliant in which the defendant is charged with non-compliance with an order made under this Act, the defendant may be compelled to give evidence and may be summoned as a witness for that purpose. The father or mother of a child who is able to maintain the child, and who wilfully and without lawful or reasonable cause or excuse deserts the child and leaves it without means of support, is guilty of an offence.