Claims?

ssedd

Hello
Could anyone please give some advice.

I looks like my wife and I will be seperating shortly due to a few things and I would like some advice as to what if anything she would be able to claim for.

I currently work and bring home just under £30,000, my wife does not work. I will be moving out of the house which is mortgaged and in both our names; my wife and two children will continue to live in the house until we can hopefully sell it. At the moment the only thing we claim is child tax credit which I think we receive £11 a week (it goes into my wifes account so I am not certain).
As I will be paying the mortgage but not living in the house is there anything my wife could claim towards the mortgage payments also is there any other child credit type thing that could be claimed for the children, they are 7 and 5.

Also one other thing, my wife has credit cards debts which have just found out about and to be honest she cant keep up with the payments; as the house is in both our names can the credit card company force the sale of the house?

Jowo_2

You can model the benefits your wife will be due on the Turn2us online benefits calculator which will determine things like child tax credit, child benefit, council tax benefit and Income Support.

As far as I'm aware (perhaps someone else can confirm), there is a requirement for a single parent to start seeking employment when their youngest child reaches 7 but the govt intends to reduce this in the future to when the youngest attends school (not sure when this is implemented).

Generally, I believe a single parent with 2 kids gets around £200 per week in benefits composed of approx £65 income support or Job Seekers Allowance, £34 child benefit and £100 tax credits. The council tax is likely to be either fully reduced, and at the very least would have a 25% single adult discount.

The child support you pay her will not impact her means tested benefits. There is a child support board on MSE that may be able to give you pointers on your obligations? How much child support do you intend to pay?

I am not aware whether or not SMI for the interest part of the mortgage is payable in your situation but the Shelter website has good information for homeowners struggling to pay their mortgage. What is your mortgage costs?

Get your wife to seek expert advice on her credit card debts - the debt free wanabee board on this forum or the Direct Gov website will be good starting points for how to deal with her debts and creditors now before it escalates into county court judgements or any enforcement action. Perhaps she can book an appointment with CAB to check her entitlements and how to manage her debts? I am not knowledgeable about debt related issues but if you post the query on how her CC debts can potentially affect a jointly owned property, the experts on the Debt Free wanabee board will tell you the risks or not.

Indie_Kid

Jowo wrote: »

As far as I'm aware (perhaps someone else can confirm), there is a requirement for a single parent to start seeking employment when their youngest child reaches 7 but the govt intends to reduce this in the future to when the youngest attends school (not sure when this is implemented).

For school-age it's April 2011. It'll be 7 on October 26th.