Just wondering what the position is re a couple who are legally seperated and the social welfare / old age pension? Can they both claim individual contributory old age pensions if they have sufficient "stamps" clocked up? or is it still a joint pension? Is the situation different if they divorce?
Ok, thank you for that advice which is very helpful. I understand the contributory pension bit, but I don't understand the non-contributory pension bit fully. What you are saying is that if a couple are legally separated, for a non- contributory state pension, the spouse will be means tested, and if (she) has an income (eg from spouses pension) above threshold x, she will not get a non contributory pension? Does this change again if they are divorced?