EEA worker temporarily ill and DS1500

Can’t get my head around this.

Client & partner are Portuguese, he came to UK in Oct 13 and worked through until March 14 when he was hospitalised with cancer. Job was terminated by employer and he claimed & was awarded ESA under chemotherapy regs, with partner on claim as a couple. He has 3 children, 2 of whom are in full time education and a partner who is currently his full time (unpaid) carer. Partner and children came to UK in Feb 14 and have never worked here.

From what I can tell, he has retained worker status as a worker who is temporarily ill. It is probably possible to get a DS1500 for him. This would help no end with his PIP claim which otherwise probably won’t get decided until 2015 sometime. Am I right in thinking though that a DS1500 would end his retained worker status as he would no longer be temporarily ill, thereby risking ending his ESA claim? (CPAG 1539).

His partner is the primary carer for the 2 young children who are in full time education so has a derivative right to reside through this. I understand that he may also be able to get this derivative R2R through their children.

My 2nd question is, how does the partner’s derivative R2R,  and his potential derivative R2R interact with his ESA claim? i.e. would it stop it being terminated if a DS1500 was issued?

Or am I missing something more straightforward?

Any derivative (Teixeira) right to reside held by either of them is ‘fixed’, i.e. once established, is dependent only on period of the children being in education.  It is not affected by what happens to her husband along the way.  I think that a DS1500 would end his right to reside based on retained worker status as it is arguable that this would sever his link to the labour market.  One could remark, with heavy handed humour, that a DS1500 actually confirms that his incapacity is, indeed, temporary, but that would be to misunderstand the law.

Nevip, if I knew how to put a wry smile in symbols I would be putting it here.

What kind of society do we live in where we support people who are ill, so long as they are likely to go back to work afterwards but just abandon them with nothing if they are likely to die?

It makes me VERY, VERY, ANGRY.