PART C -Decisi o n u nder A pp eal T h e dec i sion under appeal is the M inis t r y of Social D re consideratio n dec ision dat ed Marc h 25, 20 14, w hi for incom e assista nce becaus e sh e had no t ap pl i ed prescr ibed in s e cti on 5 o f EAR. T h e min istr y fur t h e r a n d conti nued to r esi de with her s pouse, as def i ned in Act; an d (b) the appellant' s s pou se was h er depend uni t'. PART D -Rele vant Legislati o n Employment and A ssis tanc e Act (EAA) section 1 ( 1 Employment Assi stance Re gulat i on (E A R) -sect ion 5 EMT003(10/06/01) I APPE A L eve lo p ment and So c ial Innov ation ("mini st ry"), ch d e t e r mined th at the appell ant was not eligib l e for such assi sta nce on b ehalf of her fa mil y unit as d e t e r mined that: ( a ) the ap pellant was marr ied s e ction 1 .1 ( a ) o f t h e Em p lo yment Ass i s tance a n t , and therefore p art of the ap pell an t's "family ) and s e c tio n 1 .1
PART E -Sum marv of Facts The relevant evidenc e before th e ministry at the time of the reconsider foll owing: 1, The a pp ellan t ' s application f or in come as sistance 2 . The or i ginal d ecision of the m i nistry da t ed March 11, 2014, which has info r med the ministry that althoug h the appellant is separated from her live together; ( b) the appellant's spous e contin a c o mmon resi den c e and each contribute to 3. An Occu pancy Agre ement dated May 13, 20 joint occupants of residential pr emises described in the Agreement; 4. A hydro bill d ated January 31, 2014 in t he name of t 5. Re q ue st f or reconsid eration f rom the ap pel lan matters s tat e s t h at: (a) the ap pellant doe s no she i s liv ing wi th i s c on trol ling and writes down how muc the person she lives w ith are dif ferent ent ities and have s will get d ivor ced o nce sh e gets a stable job an Su b seq ue nt to the reco nsi dera t i on de cisi on, the app 201 4 , whi ch am ong oth e r mat ters st a t es that: (a) th a job; (b) she is in a househo ld situation that she has app ell ant is d espe ratel y in ne ed of fin ancial help; (d assis t an ce r ece i ved aft e r sh e gets a j ob and becom The panel note s that the appellant ' s s t a t e ments in t h medi cal con dition ( r efer red t o in the Reques t for Rec situation p reviously desc ribed i n her ap plication f o r in support of information and records that were before the ministry at the time of reconsideration. Therefore the panel admitted them as additional evidence pursuant to the provisions of section 22(4) of th e EAA. Neither the appellant nor a ministry representative appeared at the hearing of the appeaL After confirming that the appellant and the ministry were notified of the date and time of the hearing, the hearing proceed ed in their absence under section 86(b) of the Employment and Assistance Regulation, The panel also made the following findings of fact: 1. The appellant is married to her spouse and not yet divorced; and 2, The appellant continues to reside in the same accommodation with her husband, EAA T003(10/06/01) I APPEAL a t i on decision included the dat e d Mar ch 11, 2014; notes that : (a) the appell a nt husband, the y s till ues to give her financial assista nce, they share the househ old e xpenses, 03 t hat names t h e appel lan t and he r spouse as he app ellant's spo use; t dated March 1 1, 2014, w h ich amon g other t have an y mone y for medicat i on; (b) the p erson h sh e owes h im; (c ) the appellant and epa r a te ac count s; ( d) t he app ell an t d l o ok s af t er herse lf, el lan t f i le d a Notice of App eal dated Apr il 2, e appe l la nt is o n si c k leave and u n abl e to lo ok f or a lre a dy des cribed t o the mi nistry; (d) the ) sh e ha s prev iou sly agreed t o pay back the es finan c ia lly stable, e N otic e of Appeal rel ate to the appe ll ant's onsideration) and ref ers to her household c o m e ass istance, all of wh i c h in f ormat ion a re in
P A R T F R e a s o n s f o r P a n e l D e c i s i o n T h e i s s u e u n d e r a p p e a l i s w h e t h e r t h e m i n i s t r y ' s d e w a s r e a s o n a b l y s u p p o rt e d b y e v i d e n c e , o r a r e a s o n t h e c i r c u m s t a n c e s o f t h e a p p e l l a n t . T h e m i n i s t r y d e i n c o m e a s s i s t a n c e b e c a u s e s h e h a d n o t a p p l i e d f o r p r e s c r i b e d i n s e c t i o n 5 o f E A R . T h e m i n i s t r y f u r t h e r a n d c o n t i n u e d t o r e s i d e w i t h h e r s p o u s e , a s d e f i n e d A c t ; a n d ( b ) t h e a p p e l l a n t ' s s p o u s e w a s h e r d e p e n d u n i t ' , a s d e f i n e d i n s e c t i o n 1 o f t h e E A A . I n a r r i v i n g a t i t s r e c o n s i d e r a t i o n d e c i s i o n , t h e m i n i s t E m p l o y m e n t A s s i s t a n c e R e g u l a t i o n A p p l i c a n t r e q u i r e m e n t s 5 ( 1 ) F o r a f a m i l y u n i t t o b e e l i g i b l e f o r i n c o m e a s s i s m u s t a p p l y f o r t h e i n c o m e a s s i s t a n c e o r s u p p l e m e n ( a ) t h e f a m i l y u n i t d o e s n o t i n c l u d e a n a d u l t , o r ( b ) t h e s p o u s e o f a n a d u l t a p p l i c a n t h a s n o t r e a c h e d a p p l y w i t h t h e a d u l t a p p l i c a n t . ( 2 ) A c h i l d w h o i s n o t r e s i d i n g w i t h h i s o r h e r p a r e n t r e a s o n a b l e e f f o r t s b y t h e m i n i s t e r t o h a v e t h e p a r e n t h e c h i l d , t h e m i n i s t e r d e c i d e s t o g r a n t i n c o m e a s s i s ( 3 ) I f a f a m i l y u n i t i n c l u d e s a p a r e n t i n g d e p e n d e n t c h i n c l u d e i n t h e f a m i l y u n i t b o t h t h e p a r e n t i n g d e p e n d e R e g . 1 9 7 / 2 0 1 2 ) ( 4 ) D e s p i t e s u b s e c t i o n ( 1 ) , i f ( a ) a p a r e n t i n g d e p e n d e n t c h i l d i s a d e p e n d e n t y o u t ( b ) t h e p a r e n t o f t h e d e p e n d e n t y o u t h i s a r e c i p i e n t u t h e E m p l o y m e n t a n d A s s i s t a n c e f o r P e r s o n s w i t h D i t h e d e p e n d e n t y o u t h m a y a p p l y f o r i n c o m e a s s i s t a n t h e d e p e n d e n t y o u t h a n d a n y d e p e n d a n t o f t h a t d e p ( B . C . R e g . 1 9 7 / 2 0 1 2 ) ( 5 ) T h e m i n i s t e r m a y p r o v i d e i n c o m e a s s i s t a n c e o r a s u b s e c t i o n ( 4 ) i f t h e m i n i s t e r c o n s i d e r s t h a t t h i s i s a p 1 9 7 / 2 0 1 2 ) ( 6 ) I f i n c o m e a s s i s t a n c e o r a s u p p l e m e n t i s p r o v i d e d m i n i s t e r m a y n o t p r o v i d e i n c o m e a s s i s t a n c e o r a s u p u n i t a s p a r t o f a n y o t h e r f a m i l y u n i t . ( B . C . R e g . 1 9 7 / 2 0 1 2 ) E AA T 0 0 3 ( 1 0 / 0 6 / 0 1 )I A P P E A L c i s i o n t o d e n y t h e a p p e l l a n t i n c o m e a s s i s t a n c e a b l e a p p l i c a t i o n o f t h e a p p l i c a b l e e n a c t m e n t i n t e r m i n e d t h a t t h e a p p e l l a n t w a s n o t e l i g i b l e f o r s u c h a s s i s t a n c e o n b e h a l f o f h e r f a m i l y u n i t a s d e t e r m i n e d t h a t : ( a ) t h e a p p e l l a n t w a s m a r r i e d i n s e c t i o n 1 . 1 ( a ) o f t h e E m p l o y m e n t A s s i s t a n c e a n t , a n d t h e r e f o r e p a r t o f t h e a p p e l l a n t ' s " f a m i l y r y r e l i e d u p o n t h e f o l l o w i n g l e g i s l a t i o n : t a n c e o r a s u p p l e m e n t , a n a d u l t i n t h e f a m i l y u n i t t o n b e h a l f o f t h e f a m i l y u n i t u n l e s s 1 9 y e a r s o f a g e , i n w h i c h c a s e t h a t s p o u s e m u s t i s n o t e l i g i b l e t o r e c e i v e a s s i s t a n c e u n l e s s , a f t e r t a s s u m e r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r t h e f i n a n c i a l s u p p o r t o f t a n c e t o t h e c h i l d . ( B . C . R e g . 4 8 / 2 0 1 0 ) i l d , a n a p p l i c a t i o n u n d e r s u b s e c t i o n ( 1 ) m a y n t c h i l d a n d h i s o r h e r d e p e n d e n t c h i l d . ( B . C . h r e s i d i n g w i t h h i s o r h e r p a r e n t , a n d n d e r t h e A c t o r a r e c i p i e n t w i t h i n t h e m e a n i n g o f s a b i l i t i e s A c t , c e o r a s u p p l e m e n t f o r a f a m i l y u n i t c o m p o s e d o f e n d e n t y o u t h . s u p p l e m e n t t o a f a m i l y u n i t d e s c r i b e d i n p r o p r i a t e i n t h e c i r c u m s t a n c e s . ( B . C . R e g . t o a f a m i l y u n i t d e s c r i b e d i n s u b s e c U o n ( 4 ) , t h e p l e m e n t o n a c c o u n t o f a p e r s o n i n t h a t f a m i l y
I A P P E A L # E m p l o y m e n t A . s s i s t a n c e A c t P a r t 1 : I n t r o d u c t o r y P r o v i s i o n s I n t e r p r e t a t i o n 1 . ( 1 ) I n t h i s A c t : " a p p l i c a n t " m e a n s t h e p e r s o n i n a f a m i l y u n i t w h o a p p l i e s u n d e r t h i s A c t f o r i n c o m e a s s i s t a n c e , h a r d s h i p a s s i s t a n c e o r a s u p p l e m e n t o n b e h a l f o f t h e f a m i l y u n i t , a n d i n c l u d e s ( a ) t h e p e r s o n ' s s p o u s e , i f t h e s p o u s e i s a d e p e n d a n t , a n d ( b ) t h e p e r s o n ' s a d u l t d e p e n d a n t s ; " d e p e n d a n t " , i n r e l a t i o n t o a p e r s o n , m e a n s a n y o n e w h o r e s i d e s w i t h t h e p e r s o n a n d w h o ( a ) i s t h e s p o u s e o f t h e p e r s o n , ( b ) i s a d e p e n d e n t c h i l d o f t h e p e r s o n , o r ( c ) i n d i c a t e s a p a r e n t a l r o l e f o r t h e p e r s o n ' s d e p e n d e n t c h i l d ; " s p o u s e " h a s t h e m e a n i n g i n s e c t i o n 1 . 1 ; ( B . C . R e g . 1 9 3 / 2 0 0 6 ) M e a n i n g o f " s p o u s e " 1 . 1 ( 1 ) T w o p e r s o n s , i n c l u d i n g p e r s o n s o f t h e s a m e g e n d e r , a r e s p o u s e s o f e a c h o t h e r f o r t h e p u r p o s e s o f t h i s A c t i f ( a ) t h e y a r e m a r r i e d t o e a c h o t h e r , o r ( b ) t h e y a c k n o w l e d g e t o t h e m i n i s t e r t h a t t h e y a r e r e s i d i n g t o g e t h e r i n a m a r r i a g e l i k e r e l a t i o n s h i p . ( 2 ) T w o p e r s o n s w h o r e s i d e t o g e t h e r , i n c l u d i n g p e r s o n s o f t h e s a m e g e n d e r , a r e s p o u s e s o f e a c h o t h e r f o r t h e p u r p o s e s o f t h i s A c t i f ( a ) t h e y h a v e r e s i d e d t o g e t h e r f o r a t l e a s t ( i ) t h e p r e v i o u s 3 c o n s e c u t i v e m o n t h s , o r ( i i ) 9 o f t h e p r e v i o u s 1 2 m o n t h s , a n d ( b ) t h e m i n i s t e r i s s a t i s f i e d t h a t t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p d e m o n s t r a t e s ( i ) f i n a n c i a l d e p e n d e n c e o r i n t e r d e p e n d e n c e , a n d ( i i ) s o c i a l a n d f a m i l i a l i n t e r d e p e n d e n c e , c o n s i s t e n t w i t h a m a r r i a g e l i k e r e l a t i o n s h i p . ( B . C . R e g . 1 9 3 / 2 0 0 6 ) F r o m t h e r e c o r d o f a p p e a l , t h e p a n e l n o t e s t h a t t h e a p p e l l a n t ' s p o s i t i o n i s t h a t , a l t h o u g h s h e s h a r e s h o u s i n g a c c o m m o d a t i o n w i t h h e r h u s b a n d , s h e h a s b e e n s e p a r a t e d f r o m h i m s i n c e D e c e m b e r 2 0 0 9 . S h e d o e s n o t h a v e a n v m o n e v f o r m e d i c a t i o n ; h e r h u s b a n d i s c o n t r o l l i n q a n d w r i t e s d o w n h o w m u c h E AA T 0 0 3 ( 1 0 / 0 6 / 0 1 )
s h e o w e s h i m ; t h e y h a v e s e p a r a t e a c c o u n t s a n d s h j o b a n d i s c a p a b l e o f l o o k i n g a f t e r h e r s e l f . T h e m i n i s t r y ' s p o s i t i o n i s t h e a p p e l l a n t h a s a c k n o w l c o n t i n u e t o l i v e t o g e t h e r . I n t h e c i r c u m s t a n c e s , t h e e l i g i b l e f o r a s s i s t a n c e a s h e r a p p l i c a t i o n f o r i n c o m e p e r s o n " a n d n o t o n b e h a l f o f h e r f a m i l y u n i t , w h i c h i p r e s c r i b e d i n s e c t i o n 5 o f t h e E A R a n d t h e r e l a t e d p E A A . S e c t i o n 5 o f t h e E A R p r o v i d e s t h a t f o r a f a m i l y u n i t o n b e h a l f o f t h e w h o l e f a m il y u n i t u n l e s s t h e f a m i l y a d u l t a p p l i c a n t . T h e t e r m " s p o u s e " i s d e f i n e d i n s e c i n c l u d e s : • t w o p e r s o n s w h o a r e m a r r i e d t o e a c h o t h e r [ s • t w o p e r s o n s w h o r e s i d e t o g e t h e r f o r a t l e a s t p r e v i o u s 1 2 m o n t h s a n d t h e m i n i s t e r i s s a t i s d e p e n d e n c e o r i n t e r d e p e n d e n c e , a n d ( i i ) s o c a m a r r i a g e l i k e r e l a t i o n s h i p [ s u b s e c t i o n 1 . 1 I n t h e p r e s e n t a p p e a l , t h e a p p e l l a n t h a s a c k n o w l e d g i n t e n d s t o s e e k a d i v o r c e f r o m h i m o n c e s h e g e t s a t h e m e a n t i m e s h e o c c u p i e s t h e s a m e p r e m i s e s a s h A g r e e m e n t d a t e d M a y 1 3 , 2 0 0 3 a n d t h e a p p e l l a n t ' s 1 1 , 2 0 1 4 s u p p o r t t h e a c k n o w l e d g e m e n t t h a t t h e a p p p r e m i s e s d e s c r i b e d i n t h e O c c u p a n c y A g r e e m e n t s i p a n e l t h e r e f o r e f i n d s t h a t t h e m i n i s t r y r e a s o n a b l y d e l e g a l l y m a r r i e d ( a n d n o t y e t d i v o r c e d ) , a n d c o n t i n u e s A s t h e a p p e l l a n t i s l e g a l l y m a r r i e d a n d l i v e s i n t h e s a i n c o m e a s s i s t a n c e m u s t b e m a d e o n b e h a l f o f t h e w s e c t i o n 1 ( 1 ) o f E A A t o m e a n " t h e a p p l i c a n t o r a r e c i p " d e p e n d a n t " i s f u r t h e r d e s c r i b e d i n t h e s a m e s u b s e i s t h e s p o u s e o f t h e " a p p l i c a n t . T h e p a n e l f u r t h e r n o a s s i s t a n c e i s f o r a " S i n g l e P e r s o n " , w h e r e a s s h e i s a c i r c u m s t a n c e s , t h e p a n e l f i n d s t h a t t h e m i n i s t r y w a s n o t e l i g i b l e f o r i n c o m e a s s i s t a n c e b e c a u s e s h e h a s n f a m i l y u n i t , w h i c h i n c l u d e s h e r h u s b a n d . I n c o n c l u s i o n , t h e p a n e l f i n d s t h a t t h e m i n i s t r y ' s d e c i w a s r e a s o n a b l y s u p p o r t e d b y t h e e v i d e n c e a n d w a s c i r c u m s t a n c e s o f t h e a p p e l l a n t . T h e o a n e l c o n f i r m s t E AA T 0 0 3 ( 1 0 / 0 6 1 0 1 )A P P E A L I e p l a n s t o o b t a i n d i v o r c e o n c e s h e g e t s a s t a b l e e d g e d t h a t b o t h t h e a p p e l l a n t a n d h e r h u s b a n d m i n i s t r y d e t e r m i n e d t h a t t h e a p p e l l a n t i s n o t a s s i s t a n c e h a s b e e n s u b m i t t e d a s a " s i n g l e n c l u d e s h e r h u s b a n d a s h e r s p o u s e , a s r o v i s i o n s o f s e c t i o n 1 ( 1 ) a n d s e c t i o n 1 . 1 o f t h e t o b e e l i g i b l e f o r i n c o m e a s s i s t a n c e , i t m u s t a p p l y u n i t d o e s n o t i n c l u d e a n a d u l t o r a s p o u s e o f a n t i o n 1 . 1 o f E A A a n d s e c t i o n 1 . 1 o f E A R . I t u b s e c t i o n 1 . 1 ( 1 ) ] ; o r t h e p r e v i o u s 3 c o n s e c u t i v e m o n t h s o r 9 o f t h e f i e d t h a t t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p d e m o n s t r a t e s ( i ) f i n a n c i a l i a l a n d f a m i l i a l i n t e r d e p e n d e n c e , c o n s i s t e n t w i t h ( 2 ) ] . e d t h a t : ( a ) s h e i s s t i l l m a r r i e d t o h e r s p o u s e b u t s t a b l e j o b a n d c a n l o o k a f t e r h e r s e l f ; a n d ( b ) i n e r s p o u s e . T h e c o n t e n t s o f t h e O c c u p a n c y A p p l i c a t i o n f o r I n c o m e a s s i s t a n c e d a t e d M a r c h e l l a n t a n d h e r s p o u s e c o n t i n u e t o o c c u p y t h e n c e 2 0 0 3 a n d s h a r e c o m m o n e x p e n s e s . T h e t e r m i n e d t h a t t h e a p p e l l a n t i s s e p a r a t e d b u t t o r e s i d e i n t h e s a m e p r e m i s e s a s h e r s p o u s e . m e p r e m i s e s a s h e r s p o u s e , h e r a p p l i c a t i o n f o r h o l e o f h e r " f a m il y u n i t ' ; w h i c h i s d e s c r i b e d i n i e n t a n d h i s o r h e r d e p e n d a n t s ' . T h e t e r m c t i o n a s " a n y o n e w h o r e s i d e s w i t h t h e p e r s o n a n d t e s t h a t t h e a p p e l l a n t ' s a p p l i c a t i o n f o r i n c o m e m a r r i e d p e r s o n r e s i d i n g w i t h h e r s p o u s e . I n t h e r e a s o n a b l e i n d e t e r m i n i n g t h a t t h e a p p e l l a n t i s o t a p p l i e d f o r s u c h a s s i s t a n c e o n b e h a l f o f h e r s i o n t o d e n y i n c o m e a s s i s t a n c e t o t h e a p p e l l a n t a r e a s o n a b l e a p p l i c a t i o n o f t h e l e g i s l a t i o n i n t h e h e m i n i s t r v ' s r e c o n s i d e r a t i o n d e c i s i o n .
You are being directed to the most recent version of the statute which may not be the version considered at the time of the judgment.