I have a client who is the mother of a A8 national, registered worker.

Does anyone know the rights if any of the mother in order to claim any means tested benefit? she is 50 years old is trying to claim income support on the basis that she is a dependant of the A8 national. In what circumstances would this be possible?

can anyone help?

Trying to claim IS 'because she is the mother of a A8 national who is a registered worker', would appear to me, to be irrelevant.
The reason why all the complex benefit rules were introduced when the A8 countries joined the EU, were as I undertsand it, to stop 'benefit tourists'.
A8 nationals are encouraged to come here to work - not to claim.
She would have to meet the conditions of entitlement to IS, in addition to the fact that she is from an A8 country, in particular the HRT, - not always easy.
Page 225> of DRH refers
If I'm wrong- happy to be corrected!

Your client's son / daughter, while registered, is a worker for the purposes of EU law and therefore entitled to rights like any other worker. They are therfore able to claim in work benefits and other social advantages not only for themselves but other family members.

Reg 5(1) of the Accession Regs states that the 2006 EEA regulations apply to A8 nationals subject to modifications set out in that regulation (i.e. Reg 5).

This means that family members of A8 registered workers have the same rights as family members of other EEA nationals. The mother, if dependent, would have a right to reside as an ascending live relative, as there is nothing in Reg 5 to disapply this route.

However you have a problem as what is she going to claim? On what basis would IS be available? If IS is not available you have to look at the JSA route.

Reg 5(2) of the Accession regs states that a national of an A8 country who is a "jobseeker" is not treated as a jobseeker for the purposes of being a qualified person in Reg 6(1) of the 2006 EEA regulations. This means the mother as a jobseeker has no right to reside and no access to JSA.

You could try and argue that she is not caught by Reg 5(2) of the accession regs as she is not seeking to claim a right to reside as a jobseeker. She is claiming to have a right to reside as the dependent of an EEA worker in the ascending line and jobseekers allowance. As she has a right to reside the only other obstacle is habitual residence and the rules of JSA.

I have a similar case involving Pernsion Credit. I have submitted an appeal but the stumbling block appears to be 'dependent'.
How can an ascendent family member be dependent and once they qualify for benefit don't they then stop being dependent and consequently cease to qualify for benefit?

Check the answer to question 3 in the Lebon case 316/85 from paras 16-24. In a nutshell - dependency is a question of fact but claiming a benefit does not prevent someone being a dependent. Arguably other factors of dependency such as social and psychological are also relevant to whether someone is a dependent.