What period should documentary evidence cover?

Your client has to show their financial position in the seven days before advice and assistance/ABWOR was granted. The documentation should ideally cover that specific period. We accept this is not always possible for a number of reasons.

If there is no more up-to-date evidence during the preceding seven days you should:

  • Question your client to ensure there have been no changes since the date of the document.
  • Keep a note of the questions and the responses that satisfied you about your client’s financial eligibility
  • Make enquiries of third parties as authorised by your client’s Declaration, if necessary

You should get the most recent documentation you practically can to satisfy yourself initially. As the case progresses, you can ask for the next wage-slip or bank statement that is issued. You could then use this information to reassess eligibility and if necessary to recalculate any contribution your client has to pay.

Verification in prisoners’ cases

In this section

Verification of financial eligibility for children’s advice and assistance and ABWOR

The purpose of verification of financial eligibility

Find out about your obligation to obtain adequate verification of your client’s financial eligibility, and your client’s related responsibilities.

Verification of financial eligibility for children’s advice and assistance and ABWOR

Capital eligibility: must be checked even if your client is receiving a passported benefit

Read about why you should verify your client’s capital, even if they receive a passported benefit, as well as the types of documentary evidence required.

Verification of financial eligibility for children’s advice and assistance and ABWOR

Client’s eligibility on income

This page covers how you should go about verifying that your client is eligible to receive children’s A&A or ABWOR based on the income they receive. It covers the kind of evidence you should see from employed clients; self-employed clients; and clients in receipt of benefits. It also sets out what you should do in cases where your client declared they have no source of income.

Verification of financial eligibility for children’s advice and assistance and ABWOR

Cases where no documentary evidence of eligibility is immediately available

Find out what you can do in cases where documentary evidence of financial eligibility is not immediately available, including a number of examples.

Verification of financial eligibility for children’s advice and assistance and ABWOR

Verification in prisoners’ cases

Find out how to verify financial eligibility for A&A when the client is a prisoner in custody, and how aggregation of resources will be treated in these cases.