Wife has concealed savngs

Fishcakes_2

Deary me, what a dilema! As far as I can tell you have two options.
1. Tell your wife to get a job and stop claiming hb asap or just stop claiming it anyway and hope your never found out.
2. Do as has been said above and report what you've found and hope for lenience on your part.
You don't seem like the sort of person to happily go along with fraud so I think your only option is 2.
The thing to remember is that, as you are a couple then you are both liable for the fraudulent claims which will have to be paid back. You don't have any money but she does, so who is going to have to pay the money back,,,,,,yup,,,,her. Some may see this as poetic justice for her deception and that may be so. I'm just sorry for you that you've found yourself in this situation through no fault of your own. Good luck

Fishcakes_2

Deary me, what a dilema! As far as I can tell you have two options.
1. Tell your wife to get a job and stop claiming hb asap or just stop claiming it anyway and hope you're never found out.
2. Do as has been said above and report what you've found and hope for lenience on your part.
You don't seem like the sort of person to happily go along with fraud so I think your only option is 2.
The thing to remember is that, as you are a couple then you are both liable for the fraudulent claims which will have to be paid back. You don't have any money but she does, so who is going to have to pay the money back,,,,,,yup,,,,her. Some may see this as poetic justice for her deception and that may be so. I'm just sorry for you that you've found yourself in this situation through no fault of your own. Good luck

Voyager2002

David, you might like to show your wife this thread. The fact that she needs to understand is that she can't ignore the problem: sooner or later she WILL be caught if the fraudulent claim continues.

Several posters have been shocked by the fact that she did not tell you about the money. They should remember that there are many marriages where the wife does not know what the husband earns, so this kind of behaviour is not all that unusual.

The idea of placing the money in a trust fund for the children, so that it would not be available to you and so would not stop you claiming benefit, is interesting. Worth exploring further, but be sure to get proper legal advice on this.

moggylover

What an awful situation, and how devastated and hurt you must feel! Op, I think you have had some good advice on here and I really don't think that there is anything more that I can add (other than I think you do need to speak to your father about it, because he is likely to hear about it at some stage anyway and you could do with some moral support) but I just wanted to send you a hug and say that I hope you manage to get it all sorted.

I don't think you have any option but to report your wife though:o

Jemma-T

Voyager wrote:

Several posters have been shocked by the fact that she did not tell you about the money. They should remember that there are many marriages where the wife does not know what the husband earns, so this kind of behaviour is not all that unusual.

No harm in deeply private or personal secrets, but knowingly involving a partner in fraud and possibly deception is another matter.

cw18

Voyager2002 wrote: »

The idea of placing the money in a trust fund for the children, so that it would not be available to you and so would not stop you claiming benefit, is interesting. Worth exploring further, but be sure to get proper legal advice on this.

I don't think this would be "allowed" by the benefits offices -- as the money would be transferred AFTER benefits are in place, it would certainly be seen as "capital deprivation" and still count against the parent(s). Also, as best I understand, they only ignore £3k per child -- so the most that could be 'skimmed' isn't enough to being the balance below the £16k level, and benefits would still be stopped anyway.

weezl74

Hi David,

My limited understanding of the proceeds of crime act is that it is also an offence to know that someone has profitted from a crime (and benefit fraud has been used as one of the examples of such crimes) and not to take action to report this.

I would therefore say, take advice, and act as soon as you responsibly can.

Good luck with all of this.

Weezl x

Voyager2002

hanny83 wrote: »

Oh and yes, the OP could be dragged to court- to testify against his wife. I'm guessing the overpayment will be substantial.

No: no-one can be forced to give evidence against their spouse.

Voyager2002

Jemma-T wrote: »

No harm in deeply private or personal secrets, but knowingly involving a partner in fraud and possibly deception is another matter.

Agreed. I suppose I am saying that she has been stupid rather than wicked.

DavidW_3

Firstly thanks for the support, and non-judgemental advice.

As to reporting the mother of our 6 month old child - it is not easy to do that! One person echoed what a good friend of mine said, many men hide savings from their partners. It's not just the fraud element of it, I am just p****d off that many times we have needed things I regard as essentials and had to go without. I had to tell my sons they couldn't go on a school trip last year as I didn't have the money for it. I have treated my step-daughter as another child of my own, and would never have said she was not mine if she needed something and I had the money.

I can't afford to have our HB stopped and paying back the overpaid benefit would clear most of the £30000. This account is held in Jersey and she had been paying witholding tax, my good friend who I have sought info from says this is a measure to stop people sheltering money offshore. Apparently you either have to agree to the account details being shared with the UK IR, or have it taxed at Jersey rates.

I am making her close it and have said if she wants us to stay together she splits the money between my sons, her daughter and our baby. If she does not I will report her for fraud.