just seperated & new to benefits please help

dizzyblonde09

please help I am new to benefits and have looked at so many web sites my head is spinning.

I and OH have decided to spilt, I have checked CSA and it says he is due to pay £360 per month maintenance.

I have also use entitledto.com and their figures are

tax credits 90.58
jsa/IS 72.28
maint 90.00
total 252.86 pw

can people please confirm that my figures are correct? I have a couple of questions

1 - Am I entitled to IS even when I will get 90pw maint?

2 - I have read on here someone who's ex pays the mortgage direct so it isnt classed as income and therefore her benefits are more. Is this true?

3 - mortgage is in my sole name so would this affect any payments ref Question2?

4 - My ex has a loan of 400pm to pay from his account, would this be taken into account when calculating his maintenance payments.

5 - can we do this without involving CSA even though I will have to claim some benefits (dont want to antagonise him cos he'll then get difficult:o ).

any advice is much appreciated

Thanks

bestpud

IS is £60.50 per week and you are allowed to keep £20 of any child maintenance, so £90 will take you over the threshold for IS.

I'm assuming you have two children and at least one of them is under 12 years old?

CTC is said to be that figure on entitledto but is actually £86 in my experience, and that of another regular poster.

You don't have to go through the CSA but you do have to declare any child maintenance paid, no matter what form it takes.

The CSA would not count debt repayments when making calculations, as far as I am aware.

Really, your OH should be helping maintain his children rather than looking to the tax payer, and any attempt to 'hide' income in order to obtain benefits is fraud.

Hth

dizzyblonde09

Firstly let me thank you for taking the time to answer my post.

But

I think you misjudged the situation - maybe I wasnt clear in wording it.

My Oh is willing to pay for the upkeep of his children (yes we have 2) and I am definately not trying to hide money.

The questions I asked re loan payments and mortgage payment are things I have come accross when trying to find out what I will have per month to pay the bills.

Please remember that all of this is new to me and I am confused about what is allowed and what is not.

The CSA website actually mentioned that joint debts can be taken into account when assessing payments - I had not heard this so I asked if anyone had.

The same with the mortgage payment - something I saw on this site and wondered what the situation was.

The figures I quoted were what entitled to said I was eligible to claim even after I put in that I would be getting £360 child maint and I wanted to check if this was accurate.

I dont know if you have been in the situation but I am trying to look at all of the angles to make it as easy and conflict free as possible for my kids sake.

I would still appreciate anyones opinions or experience.

Thanks

alwaysonthego_2

I would second what Bestpud has said.

You may find it beneficial to post your CSA questions on the CSA sub-board where there are some experts on it. CSA is very complicated and I must admit I cry inside when I have a client that comes in with a problem with them. CSA also consider how many nights etc that your ex has the kids and this may impact on the payments. You could have a private arrangement but this will have to be declared as Bestpud said. If you claim IS you will only get to keep £20 of it per week.

dizzyblonde09

Thanks for replying.

Im still totally confused as to why entitledto came up with the figures it did if im only allowed 20 pw of maintenance .

I think I will follow your advice and post this on the CSA board.

thanks

alwaysonthego_2

dizzyblonde09 wrote: »

Thanks for replying.

Im still totally confused as to why entitledto came up with the figures it did if im only allowed 20 pw of maintenance .

I think I will follow your advice and post this on the CSA board.

thanks

entitledto is only a guidance and not always accurate, hth.

bestpud

dizzyblonde09 wrote: »

Firstly let me thank you for taking the time to answer my post.

But

I think you misjudged the situation - maybe I wasnt clear in wording it.

My Oh is willing to pay for the upkeep of his children (yes we have 2) and I am definately not trying to hide money.

The questions I asked re loan payments and mortgage payment are things I have come accross when trying to find out what I will have per month to pay the bills.

Please remember that all of this is new to me and I am confused about what is allowed and what is not.

The CSA website actually mentioned that joint debts can be taken into account when assessing payments - I had not heard this so I asked if anyone had.

The same with the mortgage payment - something I saw on this site and wondered what the situation was.

The figures I quoted were what entitled to said I was eligible to claim even after I put in that I would be getting £360 child maint and I wanted to check if this was accurate.

I dont know if you have been in the situation but I am trying to look at all of the angles to make it as easy and conflict free as possible for my kids sake.

I would still appreciate anyones opinions or experience.

Thanks

I am going through the exact same thing myself, but I am a week ahead of you in terms of finding all this stuff out.

I was posting from experience, as I said.

I was told the same figure as you on entitledto but £86.26 is what I will be getting for two children and another poster on here confirmed that is what she receives for two children.

I have been told about the £20 maintenance so that is a fact. The CSA information is correct too.

I too want the best for my children but I am not seeking ways to avoid having my benefits cut through earnings or maintenance. Your original post does ask this very specifically.

I hope that explains my post better.

dizzyblonde09

bestpud wrote: »

but I am not seeking ways to avoid having my benefits cut through earnings or maintenance. Your original post does ask this very specifically.

I hope that explains my post better.

I am sorry if you took it the wrong way but tbh I took offence to your suggestion that I am trying to commit fraud by hiding money to stop having benefits cut.

As I think I made clear (if not in my first post but definately the second) these are basically questions I am asking from things I have seen around the internet. Never having been involved in the benefits system (other than paying into it for years) I was unsure of processes. In no way was I attempting fraud and did not appreciate your implying it.


Thank you again for your help and of course your friendliness and welcoming manner to a new poster.

bestpud

dizzyblonde09 wrote: »

I am sorry if you took it the wrong way but tbh I took offence to your suggestion that I am trying to commit fraud by hiding money to stop having benefits cut.

As I think I made clear (if not in my first post but definately the second) these are basically questions I am asking from things I have seen around the internet. Never having been involved in the benefits system (other than paying into it for years) I was unsure of processes. In no way was I attempting fraud and did not appreciate your implying it.


Thank you again for your help and of course your friendliness and welcoming manner to a new poster.

This board is littered with people trying their best to obtain as much income as possible from the state, and sometimes it is difficult to tell if someone is genuinely seeking advice or looking for ways to commit fraud.

I wasn't aware I was being unfriendly tbh, and I did take the trouble to explain where I was coming from.

But anyway, welcome to mse!

alwaysonthego_2

bestpud wrote: »

I wasn't aware I was being unfriendly tbh, and I did take the trouble to explain where I was coming from.

But anyway, welcome to mse!

Aw bless you, you're one of the nicest posters on this board :j

Caz3121

Are you on good terms with your ex? has he said that he will continue to pay the mortgage in addition to child support? I think legally he only needs to pay child support and from that (and other income) you would be expected to pay the mortgage.
If you go on to IS you would be entitled to help with your mortgage interest payments after 13 weeks.
You would only qualify for IS if your youngest was under 12.