Who can verify a client's relationship status

A person nominated by a client applying for Sole Parent Support must meet certain criteria in order to be considered an appropriate nominated person to verify the client's relationship status.

The client is responsible for ensuring their nominated person meets the following criteria:

• be willing to provide the Ministry of Social Development with verification of the client's current relationship status for the client's benefit application
• be aged 18 or over
• knows the client in a personal capacity and has done for at least the 2 years prior to their application
• normally resides in New Zealand
• is not a part of the client's immediate family

A client's immediate family is considered to include their:

• parents (including step-parents and foster parents)
• ex-partner
• former parents in-law or equivalent
• grandparents
• children, grandchildren, stepchildren, and foster children, mokopuna (those grandchildren who have been raised by the grandparents as the principal caregivers) and tamaiti whāngai (children who have been raised, normally by a relation or other person, within the wider whānau to which the child belongs) and
• siblings (including half-siblings)