Hylton-Potts Law Blog

Legal Issues and Opinions affecting people from across the UK


Interview under caution

BENEFIT FRAUD INTERVIEWS UNDER CAUTION   The Benefit/ Tax Credit Offices and Local Authorities are on the lookout for people claiming benefits to which they are not entitled, either deliberately or by accident.   If they think you have committed a crime, they write stating that you have to attend an interview usually under caution.   The letter is often signed by somebody who may not sound like a fraud investigator but is.  “Benefits Enquiry Officer” or “ Audit Officer” but does not tell the whole story.   Often the letter says that the interview is under the Police &

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GMC English language tests

From 4 June 2014, the GMC can assess doctors from other counties within the European Union for language skills.   Doctors have to require evidence of their language skills or undergo a language assessment test.   All overseas doctors including those from the European Union have to now achieve an overall score of 7.5% out of 9 in the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) apart from the current score of 7.  Many doctors from the European Union are rushing to exercise their EC rights before this deadline.   If you want expert advice on becoming registered with the GMC

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Child support payments and access rights to civil partnership partners biological children

Question: My friend is in a civil partnership of 5 years with another woman, but things are rocky at the moment and they may end up dissolving the civil partnership. Her partner has two small children from a previous relationship (10 and 8) with whom she has a very close relationship. If they were to dissolve the partnership, would she have to pay child support, even though they are not her biological children? She loves them dearly but I do not believe she should be responsible for paying for their upkeep should the relationship end. Am I right? Answer: Yes

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Can a marriage be switched to a civil partnership following gender reassignment surgery?

Question: Me and my husband have been married for over 15 years and I’ve been aware of his desire to live life as a woman for a little over 10 years now. He kept his cross dressing and desire to live his life as a woman away from me, but I have come to terms with things now. He’s now been told he can have the gender reassignment surgery which is fantastic news. I love my husband very much and I cannot imagine being without him, male or female. As so, we want to stay married, but I’m told we

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My brother got a civil partnership with another man who was originally from India

Question: My brother got a civil partnership with another man who was originally from India. They originally met in India and decided to get ‘married’ in the UK. My brother’s ‘spouse’  came to the UK on a visit visa at the time to get ‘married’, but within a few months things broke down between the two of them and the spouse returned to India and that was the last we heard from him. Not even his family know where he is as he deleted his social networking accounts not long after going back to India so there is no way

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Ending of civil partnership whilst living in Thailand

Question: Hello me and my ex-partner travelled to the UK to have civil partnership done 2 years ago. However I would like get a dissolution of the civil partnership now in Thailand as I do not have the money to pay for flights to the UK back just to get this done. Can I do this in Thailand or not? Thankyou. Answer: You should not have to travel back to the UK to get your civil partnerships dissolved as you can get them dissolved or created at the UK Consulate – you would need to speak to them. If money wasn’t

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Can a post op transsexual marry legally in the U.K.?

Question: Hi, I’m grateful for any light you can shed on this. I’m a post op transsexual and I have decided I would like to ask my partner to marry me this year, but before I take this any further. I need to know if I’m legally allowed to get married in the U.K.? Answer: A transsexual person who has been granted a Gender Recognition Certificate under the GRA 2004 (more details here; https://www.gov.uk/apply-gender-recognition-certificate is legally recognised as the gender stated on that certificate for ALL legal purposes, including marriage, whether ‘post-op’ or not (surgery is not one of the

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I’m entering a civil partnership. I own my own property. Would my partner be entitled to a share if we split?

Question: I’ll keep this short and to the point… I’m entering into a civil partnership later this year. I own my own property which is solely in my name and my partner will be moving in and paying me a weekly rent. In the event of the partnership being dissolved in the future would my partner be entitled to a share of the property? Thanks. Answer: The simple answer is yes! If you have concerns, you should talk it over with your partner and arrange to get a pre-cip (pre-nup) . Then at least you know that the assets you

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I'm entering a civil partnership. I own my own property. Would my partner be entitled to a share if we split?

Question: I’ll keep this short and to the point… I’m entering into a civil partnership later this year. I own my own property which is solely in my name and my partner will be moving in and paying me a weekly rent. In the event of the partnership being dissolved in the future would my partner be entitled to a share of the property? Thanks. Answer: The simple answer is yes! If you have concerns, you should talk it over with your partner and arrange to get a pre-cip (pre-nup) . Then at least you know that the assets you

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Do lesbians in a civil partnership who “divorce”, have to pay child support even if the child is not their biological child?

Question: My sister has been together with her partner in a civil partnership and helped to bring up her child that she had with a previous male partner before they met. Things have not been right between my sister and her partner for some time and I personally think they may break up. However I’m worried that her partner may look to ask her to pay child support even though the child is biologically not her child and nor did she adopt the child. I do not think it is fair that she would be expected to contribute towards the

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