Presently dealing with a client who underwent Male to Female gender reassignment surgery. She attained the age of 60 years at 14 September 2000 and sought advice with regards to claiming State Retirement Pension. She received three separate letters from the Department, all of which advised her "not" to claim as there would be no point in doing so.
Accordingly, she left this and did not make her claim until April 2005, following advice and decisions from the European Court, she is now in payment of a State Retirement Pension.
She called in to see us, and already had a date for Tribunal, however the issue is whether or not it is possible to secure entitlement to the Retirement Pension from her 60th birthday. Obviously, if she had made the claim, this would be achievable, however as she hasn't, I think the only available option would be to request an ex-gratia payment. I am, however somewhat concerned that this situation may be something that some sort of support group may well the dealing with this.
Any suggestions more than welcome.