34.— (1) The spouse or civil partner of a deceased member who survives that member—

(a) shall not be granted or paid a survivor’s pension under this Part if that spouse or civil partner was, at the time of the death of the Scheme member, cohabiting with a person other than the deceased member, or

(b) shall not be paid a survivor’s pension under this Part in respect of any period after the death of the Scheme member during which the spouse or civil partner is married, in a civil partnership or cohabiting with any person.

(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), where—

(a) a survivor’s pension was not granted to a person by virtue of subsection (1)(a) or, if granted, is not being paid to a person by virtue of subsection (1)(b), and

(b) (i) at a date subsequent to the date of any marriage or civil partnership to which subsection (1)(b) relates, the marriage or civil partnership—

(I) has ceased because of the death of the other person concerned, or

(II) has been duly dissolved,

(ii) in the case of any cohabitation to which subsection (1) relates, the Minister or other relevant authority concerned is satisfied that cohabitation has ceased, or

(iii) there are, in the opinion of the Minister, having considered an application, compassionate grounds for the payment of a survivor’s pension,

then, the Minister or other relevant authority, with the consent of the Minister, may, if it is considered to be just and equitable in all the circumstances by the Minister or other relevant authority (as appropriate), grant or re-grant, as the case may be, a survivor’s pension as from the date determined in accordance with subsection (5).

(3) Without prejudice to the exercise of his or her function under subsection (2)(b)(iii) at any time, the Minister may delegate in writing that function to any relevant authority in respect of the survivors of deceased members or of a class of deceased members. A delegation under this subsection may be revoked at any time by the Minister in writing.

(4) Any delegation under subsection (3) may include directions or other instructions to the relevant authority concerned regarding the determination of the circumstances in which compassionate grounds may or may not exist. Directions or other instructions to which this subsection relates may be amended from time to time by the Minister in writing.

(5) The date to be determined for the purposes of subsection (2), shall be—

(a) in the case of a marriage or civil partnership, the date on which the marriage or civil partnership ceased because of the death of the other person concerned or the date on which the marriage or civil partnership was dissolved,

(b) in the case of cohabitation, the date on which the cohabitation ended or, where such date cannot be established with certainty by the relevant authority, such date as appears to the relevant authority to be a date from which in its opinion cohabitation is likely to have ceased, and

(c) in a case to which subsection (2)(b)(iii) relates, the date decided on by the Minister, being a date not earlier than the date on which the relevant application is received by the Minister.

(6) Subject to subsections (1) to (4), a survivor’s pension may only be paid in respect of the period commencing on the day following the date of the death of the Scheme member concerned and ending on the day of the death of the spouse or civil partner of that deceased member.