Disability Living Allowance

Happy Easter.
Can anyone please tell me whether Disability Living Allowance is taken into account as income/an asset during a FDR hearing. My brain tells me that DLA is paid to the disabled person to be used for additional help they may need and if the other party needed it they would be getting it. Many thanks.

It is counted as income yes.

Thanks - a further question springs to mind!! If the DLA is time limited due to the disability hopefully being removed with further surgery early next year, will this be taken into consideration in regards to it not being a long term income when finances are discussed and divided?

Yes of course courts consider all factors, historic income current income and what you are likely to have in the future, only when all facts are considered can a judge make a decision.

Your health will also be considered, both now and for the future.

Thanks that''s a relief although I''m still a little confused as no-one is able to say what my health is likely to be like in the future, so I don''t really understand how a decision can be made or based on this. I am hoping that my circumstances are going to change following surgery next year but there is a BIG question mark over whether it''s going to be a success or not. All I do know is I''d much rather have my health back than be on DLA.

Judges deal with these issues all the time, there are various avenues open to them when deciding, term/joint lives/nominal orders for spousal maintenance is an obvious option for starters.

But how can you get spousal maintenance and a Clean Break?