Benefits for when baby is born??

V_Debt

Hi, Im slightly (well..very) confused when it comes to how me and my girlfriends benefits will work out when our first baby is born.

Im currently in receipt of Income Support (put on it due to not having enough NI contributions to get Incapacity Benefit) from what Ive heard, I will cease to get it when my girlfriend moves in when the baby is born.

She will be going on maternity at 35 weeks, shes 24 weeks now. From what I understand, SMP is 6 weeks at 90% then 20 weeks at the SMP rate of £123?

Can she claim WTC when not technically working (on maternity) Im assuming that we can claim CTC and will get Child Benefit as well?

Also I currently get £370 towards my rent of £450, will this change when she moves in when the baby is born?

Has anyone got any idea of how much WTC (if any) and CTCs we'll get?

Im a bit worried that we're going to be worse off than we are now with a baby than we are currently living apart with no baby?

Can anyone help please..?

Thanks in advance

karenx

your partners income will be taken into account when working out your housing benefit, this will be from the day she moves in. Same for council tax benefit.
child benefit will be £20 per week. For tax credits pop both your details into entitledto.com as if the baby is already here and what your circumstances are. Will also tell you about rental figures. These are only an estimate, just look at the weekly figures part. You get the baby element for the first year of child tax credits, so once baby is 1 you lose £545 per year.

V_Debt

Have tried the entitledto site and that confuses me somewhat also.

The part I dont understand is if Im trying to work out what benefits we'll be entiled to when my girlfriend is on SMP, do I put that shes working over 30 hours a week as this is what she would be or that shes currently not working as shes on maternity?

From what I typed in it says that we would get £140 a week in CTC and WTC that with the £500 maternity pay and CB works out at £1140 every 4 weeks.

Not sure about housing benefit as I tried the online calculator for that and thats even more confusing. It says between £54 and £87 a week depending on how I fill it in.

Theres a part that asks if either partner gets Income support, Incapacity, Disabled Benefits or if they have been off work sick with sick notes/medical.

I have had the medical which assessed me for Incapacity so would that qualify me to get a higher HB rate even though my IS would stop when my partner moves in?

Currently between us we get around £1440, thats her fulltime wage, my IS and HB. Going with the £54 HB rate, we would get £1350 so £100 less a month with a baby to pay for?

Can anyone confirm if this sounds right?

karenx

What do you mean "depending on how you fill it in" for the housing benefit?
If your IS will stop when your partner moves in then you obviously dont include that on the form. Put everything in exactly as it would be once baby is here and your partner is living with you. There is a part somewhere for putting maternity figures.
Yes that sounds about right, as you are not living as 2 seperate people anymore its 2 people together so your single person benefits will stop. But it will be cheaper for you in the long run as theres no 2 phone lines, 2 tv licence etc etc to pay for!

Glen0000

V_Debt wrote: »

Have tried the entitledto site and that confuses me somewhat also.

The part I dont understand is if Im trying to work out what benefits we'll be entiled to when my girlfriend is on SMP, do I put that shes working over 30 hours a week as this is what she would be or that shes currently not working as shes on maternity?

From what I typed in it says that we would get £140 a week in CTC and WTC that with the £500 maternity pay and CB works out at £1140 every 4 weeks.

Not sure about housing benefit as I tried the online calculator for that and thats even more confusing. It says between £54 and £87 a week depending on how I fill it in.

Theres a part that asks if either partner gets Income support, Incapacity, Disabled Benefits or if they have been off work sick with sick notes/medical.

I have had the medical which assessed me for Incapacity so would that qualify me to get a higher HB rate even though my IS would stop when my partner moves in?

Currently between us we get around £1440, thats her fulltime wage, my IS and HB. Going with the £54 HB rate, we would get £1350 so £100 less a month with a baby to pay for?

Can anyone confirm if this sounds right?

Yes sounds about right. Most people are entitled to less benefit money if they live together. You only have one lot of household bills to pay though so that is why.

V_Debt

karenx wrote: »

What do you mean "depending on how you fill it in" for the housing benefit?
If your IS will stop when your partner moves in then you obviously dont include that on the form. Put everything in exactly as it would be once baby is here and your partner is living with you. There is a part somewhere for putting maternity figures.
Yes that sounds about right, as you are not living as 2 seperate people anymore its 2 people together so your single person benefits will stop. But it will be cheaper for you in the long run as theres no 2 phone lines, 2 tv licence etc etc to pay for!

lol unfortunately she lives with her parents atm, therefor she doesnt pay for a phone line, tv license etc

depends how I fill it in..meaning whether I put that shes working 30+ hours a week and receiving SMP, if I put that shes working 0 hours but getting SMP, if I put in a weekly housing allowance, I dont know how much WTC or CTC we're going to get as the benefits calculators Ive tried spit out different numbers, again depending on how I fill them in (obviously) If I put £140 a week TCs £123 SMP, again this will change as its 6 weeks at 90% of her wage then £123 a week plus we dont know how the company maternity pay works as its not clear in the booklet my girlfriend was given from work. That would imply that the HB we will receive will be different for the first 6 weeks as it will for the 33 weeks after that.

As I said all very confusing.

bestpud

Surely she pays her parents rent money though? She's working full time so I'd hope she doesn't let them pay for everything...?

What was her income last year i.e. the tax year 2009-2010?

And did you earn anything last year?

Is it a private rent and if so, how many bedrooms do you have?

V_Debt

no shes offered to pay digs but her parents wont take anything from her, shes got a baby on the way, think it would be a bit bad to take money off her when saving for having a baby anyway but thats beside the point. They dont ask or take anything from her anyway.

She earned around £4100 as she was at college and only had 2 part time jobs which didnt last long and only one monthly wage from her current job.

I didnt earn anything but was receiving IS.

Its a 2 bed house..and private yes.

krisskross

V_Debt wrote: »

no shes offered to pay digs but her parents wont take anything from her, shes got a baby on the way, think it would be a bit bad to take money off her when saving for having a baby anyway but thats beside the point.

.

LOL no mention of who should be supporting her when she is expecting his baby.

Wish I had the insouciance of the young.

karenx

V_Debt wrote: »

lol unfortunately she lives with her parents atm, therefor she doesnt pay for a phone line, tv license etc

depends how I fill it in..meaning whether I put that shes working 30+ hours a week and receiving SMP, if I put that shes working 0 hours but getting SMP, if I put in a weekly housing allowance, I dont know how much WTC or CTC we're going to get as the benefits calculators Ive tried spit out different numbers, again depending on how I fill them in (obviously) If I put £140 a week TCs £123 SMP, again this will change as its 6 weeks at 90% of her wage then £123 a week plus we dont know how the company maternity pay works as its not clear in the booklet my girlfriend was given from work. That would imply that the HB we will receive will be different for the first 6 weeks as it will for the 33 weeks after that.

As I said all very confusing.

When income changes you will need to supply housing benefit the wageslips monthly so they can re-asses what the award is going to be!
Is she going to return to work after maternity leave?

Jomo

If you are unable to work could you not take care of the baby and your girlfriend find a job? A lady where I work is only taking 4 months of her maternity entitlement as her partner is a stay at home dad.