I am involved in a case where my client has been asked to repay £29,000.00 Housing Benefit that she has received on the basis that her landlord is the father of her child. Regulation 7(1)(d) of the Housing Benefit (General) Regulations 1997 provides that a person is not entitled to benefit if the person to whom they pay their rent is the father of a child for whom they are responsible.

My client says that she does not know whether her landlord is the father of her child but acknowledges that it is a possibility even though she thinks that it is unlikely. The landlord's evidence is the same. The problem is that by agreement between the mother & landlord agreed to amend the birth certificate some 17 month after the birth of the child to show the landlord as the father. They did this for various personal reasons. The local authority have now seized upon the birth certificate as evidence that the landlord is the father and have stopped Housing Benefit and they are seeking repayment of all sums paid.

I wanted to know whether you are aware of any case law relating to the issue of paternity that could assist & with particular reference to whether the evidence of a birth certificate could be displaced.

I am not aware of any case law relating to the issue of paternity.

I believe the LA are correct in using the birth certificate as evidence of who the parents are. I have assumed from your posting that the mum and landlord are not married. In order for the birth certificate to have his details on he would have had to agree and be present when his details were added.

I am puzzled why your clients have completed legal documents stating he is the father if they don't want him to be treated as the father?