The amount of an AOW benefit depends on the beneficiary's living situation. Cohabitants receive a lower benefit than singles. The distinction between cohabiting or single is not always easy to establish. In one procedure, it was in dispute whether a lodger was living in the benefit recipient's home on a commercial basis.
In the earlier application for Anw benefit, an investigation initiated concluded that a commercial relationship existed between the benefit recipient and the room resident. Following the application for an Anw benefit, a new investigation into the living and living situation of the persons concerned followed. The conclusion of that investigation was that the persons concerned were running a joint household.
For the purposes of the AOW, an unmarried adult who runs a joint household with another unmarried adult is considered married. Persons run a joint household when they have their main residence in the same house and they look after each other by contributing to the costs of the household or otherwise.
In this case, the following circumstances led to the finding of a joint household. The room resident was allowed to use all the facilities of the house. The benefit recipient paid the fixed expenses and cooked and did laundry for both of them. They also ate together, went shopping together in the room-dweller's car and did chores in and around the house. This did not constitute a purely arm's length boarding relationship.