not sure how to go about it!!

cady

hi

me and OH are expecting our first baby in sept and we are at the point at the moment of sorting out our finances and my mat leave ect - we dont get any benifits at the moment and have a mortgage ect to pay on 2 full time wages - i qualify for the £190 grant and the child vouchers but thats it - we know that we will get some benifits too once the baby is born but im not 1005 sure what and how we apply for it? do we wait until the baby is born or can we get the forms ect to fill in or apply before and send some thing off once the baby is here? plus does anyone know what sort of things we get? as the have all changed the names and i dont know anyone with kids to ask either - its very hard to plan our finances as im worried we will not be organised with the money and then have to sit and sort it out with a new baby is scaring me lol

Cady x

SomeBozo

What does your partner earn? What do you earn now?

Bozo

bestpud

You will receive child benefit of £20 a week once the baby is born (you have to register him/her first) and possibly some tax credits. Depending on the tax credit situation, there is also the surestart maternity grant.

As Bozo has indicated, we can give you an idea if you are able to give us some more details.

cady

Hiya my partner earns 15,000 and i earn 11,400 we claim no benifits (not even WTC as were under 25) and i want to go back to work part time - we only qualify for the £190 and the vouchers that im aware of .

Thanks

Cady xx

bestpud

Ok, you would not be entitled to working tax credit at present, even if you were over 25, as you are way over the threshold.

You will definitely receive at least the family element of child tax credit once the baby is here - so a minimum of £20 a week (reducing to £10 when he/she is a year old). Plus child benefit of £20 a week.

When on maternity leave, you can reduce £100 a week from your income for tax credits purposes, so you may receive more than the family element, and if you do, you can apply for the surestart grant of £500. None of this can be done until the baby is born but you have up to three months to claim the grant.

If you work part time and your OH earns roughly what he does now, you willl almost certainly receive more than the family element of ctc but it is diffcult to predict how much without an income. How much do you think you are likely to earn?

You may be entitled to help with cildcare via tax credits too, but I am not sure if you will be better of with the vouchers or not. I assume you mean the ones you get through your employer - that you pay before tax? Someone else will know more about this than I do.