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SOA Advice

Hi again,

When filling out seperate SOA for me and DH I am a bit confused. The only earnings I have is child tax credit and child benefit. If i put half household expenses on my form i will be minus hundreds and if DH puts only half on his he will have hundreds surplus. We then would not afford to live. :confused:

This is so confusing but theres probably a simple explanation (I hope!)

Comments

  • Hi oggly and welcome!

    Just a quick reply, others will be along to give more details later! You put your income, plus whatever proportion of your OH's income is needed to 'balance' the SOA. And vice versa for your OH's.

    You then put ALL household expenses on BOTH SOAs, but only put your personal expenses for things like haircuts, mobile phone, car expenses if you have a car each.

    Why not post both SOAs on here and folks will tweak them for you!! (Ooer!):rotfl:
  • OK so if OH earns 1800 I put 900 on my form and 900 on his? Then we put half all household expenses on each plus personal expenses?

    Also, if we phone the court for a BR date, do they notify banks and creditors straight away? As we need to keep our account open for a couple more weeks for OH wages to be paid etc.

    So many questions, so little time!!
  • hiya ogglydooggly had exactly the same question myself yesterday - I think my question is on the janclub thread and they said the same as above - it is confusing as I too am on benefits and OH works so on SOA form looks ok and other terrible but if I do a joint one it sort of works out - so I am doing the two seperate ones and a joint one to take with me too 'just in case' - like to be prepared must have been a girl guide in another life LOL
  • dalip
    dalip Posts: 7,045 Forumite
    No if your only income is benefits your OH contribution would be most of his income. The 50/50 only really applies if you are both earning more or less the same wage. CB has to be included but when working out any surplus take it off as this is not used by the OR for IPA purposes,as it is seen as being for the child.

    No the OR informs the banks/creditors not the court. When are you planning on going bc?. You could try opening a co-opcashminder now and start getting all dd and wages changed over in readiness.Dx
    Free impartial debt advice available from: National Debtline - Tel: 0808 808 4000 | The Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS) - Tel: 0800 138 1111 | Find your local Citizens Advice Bureau
    Laugh at yourself and others laugh with you.Laugh at others and you laugh alone. BSC No 107:D
  • Thanks for that, I think that is the best idea to take two and be prepared. As long as they work out the same it shouldn't matter. Hopefully our joint surplus is below £99.
  • Have applied for co-op cashminder but the timing is tight. Money is being eaten by cc bills which we are still paying at the moment but plan to stop shortly. Wanted most things in place before we unleashed the lions;)
  • dalip
    dalip Posts: 7,045 Forumite
    Once you have your bc date i would stop all non essential payments.Dx
    Free impartial debt advice available from: National Debtline - Tel: 0808 808 4000 | The Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS) - Tel: 0800 138 1111 | Find your local Citizens Advice Bureau
    Laugh at yourself and others laugh with you.Laugh at others and you laugh alone. BSC No 107:D
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