Need Benefit Advice Please, What help can i get?

Tulip09

My current landlord has said that he knows we are splitting up and my husband notified him that we were ending the contract and then phoned last week to say that he will rent the house own his own after that, which the current landlord has agreed to. So i guess he must have been thinking about it for a month at least. I guess i now have alot of things to think about and sort out. Thank you for all the advice given by everyone today.

Jowo_2

Contact Shelter asap to understand where you stand with this current tenancy and future tenancy and your husband's obligations to you. They have a section on relationship breakdown.

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/families_and_relationships/relationship_breakdown

It pretty much now sounds like your husband has tricked you to leave the current property and take on a property in your sole name as a deliberate strategy, all the while saying that he would be fair....

As a joint tenant in a relationship breakdown, you should have reached an agreement who could stay in the property and if not, could have taken it to court and let a judge decide. In tricking you, he took away these options. I'd speculate that a judge would find in favour of the wronged party, plus in favour of the child-carer.

Were you in an abusive relationship? I'm not making an assumption, just asking, because there is additional support available if this applies to you. This doesn't actually mean one where you are a victim of domestic violence. Very often this is one that involves emotional and financial control, not physical abuse,where the victim is financially disadvantaged. You seem very in the dark about the household finances and have ended up being tricked out of a tenancy and liable for debts he has incurred, including a legal dispute that was solely his issue and a car you cannot use! See the Womens Aid pages to determine if this applies to you, as they can offer debt, accommodation and benefits advice to you.


http://www.womensaid.org.uk/domestic-violence-articles.asp?section=00010001002200410001&itemid=1272&itemTitle=What+is+domestic+violence

SallieSA

Try this web site
campaign@benefitsandwork.co.uk

dmg24

SallieSA wrote: »

Try this web site
[EMAIL="campaign@benefitsandwork.co.uk"]campaign@benefitsandwork.co.uk[/EMAIL]

I can't see how B&W will help the OP in this situation. Shelter is a much better source of information, and unlike B&W is free.

Jowo_2

dmg24 wrote: »

It is possible that the new letting agent will not want you to take on the lease when they find out you will be claiming benefits. It may be a get out for you?

.

If the tenant has a signed contract, then there's little that the landlord can do if the circumstances have changed between signing it and moving in.

However, Shelter can advise the OP on their options and responsibilties, whether it can be cancelled before the moving in date.

If it can't be legally cancelled, it could be the case that new landlord will agree to a mutual early surrender of this agreement rather than accept a tenant into the property who will quickly go into arrears. They may want to keep the deposit or charge the tenant for the void period until a replacement tenant can be found. Shelter can advise on this.

But if the OP should check her full benefit entitlements first to see if she can afford it, take prompt legal advice on child support, find out how she can deal with the debts and so forth.

And also consider where she is going to live if she decides not to move close to her mum. Again, Shelter or Womens Aid should be contacted asap about how she has been tricked out of her current tenancy to find out if the local council have a statutory responsibility to house her.

Usually, someone giving up a tenancy is considered to have made themselves intentionally homeless and if she has a place to move into, may not consider that she is in housing need, but since she was tricked out of leaving the property and moving to place that she may not be able to afford, this could be challenged.

For example, my aunty was refused social housing as it was the non-payment of the rent that caused the eviction. she was able to demonstrate that she was not party to her husband's finances and so was not aware that he hadn't paid the rent or that the property had been repossessed, until the bailiffs actually turned up to change the locks! True story - no idea she was getting turfed out of the house.

dmg24

Jowo wrote: »

If the tenant has a signed contract, then there's little that the landlord can do if the circumstances have changed between signing it and moving in.

There is if neither party wish to be bound by the contract.

iamana1ias

dmg24 wrote: »

My ex lives 200 miles from his children (not mine!). He sees them every other weekend, and for every other visit stays down there because he acknowledges it is too much for them to spend their weekends on the motorway.

I thought joint custody (ie justifying his getting half the child benefit and tax credit) would mean 50/50 care. The kids can't be expected to travel 500 miles every 3.5 days!!

Jowo_2

dmg24 wrote: »

There is if neither party wish to be bound by the contract.

I agree but in the previous posting it was pitched as 'It is possible that the new letting agent will not want you to take on the lease when they find out you will be claiming benefits' whereas they have no actual choice but to allow the tenant to take up the tenancy despite her change in circumstances and where the tenant could potentially be obliged to pay rent even if they decide not to occupy it.

But yes, a mutual surrender could be an option but the landlord doesn't have to agree. I think the OP needs expert advice from Shelter to confirm her legal position and financial risks if she decides not to move in.

Jowo_2

iamana1ias wrote: »

I thought joint custody (ie justifying his getting half the child benefit and tax credit) would mean 50/50 care. The kids can't be expected to travel 500 miles every 3.5 days!!

I know. This guy is very much a 'having a cake/eating a cake' type of guy though it looks like many people use terms that have no legal basis or have multiple meanings.

Joint custody is the norm and it's about making parenting decisions together and is unrelated to where the children live.

I think what he means is they have joint custody for the purposes of him receiving child related benefits to help subsidise the cost of the large property he has tricked from his wife where he will live there on his own or with his mistress for 90% of the time with 2 or 3 empty bedrooms, with his income being swallowed up to maintain his lifestyle rather than support his children.

Legally, perhaps they will have joint custody of the kids relating to parenting decisions but its normally the physical custody of the kids that dictate the receipt of benefits and its apportioning. Assuming they go to school at the new location, they will be there the majority of the time and shared residency (if that is what the OP's husband is thinking of) is less common.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shared_residency_in_English_law

http://www.childsupportlaws.co.uk/child-custody-rights.html


Logistically because the parents are split across almost the entire length of the country, there's virtually no chance that the children can see him other than for some bank holiday weekends or school holidays. Joint physical custody (shared residency) can only really work when parents live close together.

But the solicitor will advise the OP on this. Because her husband is deceitful, I think the OP is going to have to check whether he's made a secret deal with the children to encourage them to stay with him, although perhaps he thinks they'd cramp his style and cost him a fortune and would be glad to have them at a financial arms length so he can enjoy his expensive love nest!

RAS

Tulip

Please get some good legal advice urgently.

your husband has not been fair to you at all or to the kids; he has been extremely underhand.

Options for you include not actually leaving the current property until the landlord gets possession or moving.

Please check how much the local Housing Allowance is in the area where the other house is.

You need to talk to the kids about what they want to do as well.