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Income Support and Child Maintenance

A friend of mine has been living off money that her ex pays her - he pays the mortgage and gives her £350 per month as maintenance (it was £1150 per month until he dropped it). I said that Income Support don't count maintenance as income, yet she insists that they told her that they do! I know that if it is done via the CSA that it is definitely disregarded, but can anybody tell me if this is still true if it is a private agreement? She currently gets tax credits on top of the £350 per month, but is struggling - and if she is entitled to claim IS, then she should. Can anybody point me to any legislation which states whether private agreement maintenance is also disregarded, or is it not?

Comments

  • mrsspendalot
    mrsspendalot Posts: 3,238 Forumite
    kelloggs36 wrote: »
    A friend of mine has been living off money that her ex pays her - he pays the mortgage and gives her £350 per month as maintenance (it was £1150 per month until he dropped it). I said that Income Support don't count maintenance as income, yet she insists that they told her that they do! I know that if it is done via the CSA that it is definitely disregarded, but can anybody tell me if this is still true if it is a private agreement? She currently gets tax credits on top of the £350 per month, but is struggling - and if she is entitled to claim IS, then she should. Can anybody point me to any legislation which states whether private agreement maintenance is also disregarded, or is it not?

    I thought it was all disregarded for benefit purposes, hence the reason for breaking with the need to use the CSA if you were on IS etc. I know when my maintenance was through a private arrangement before it went to CSA it was all disregarded for housing benefit.

    Is it possible that there is some confusion/issue with seeing the payment of the mortgage as some form of spousal maintenance?
    Olympic Countdown Challenge #145 ~ DFW Nerd #389 ~ Debt Free Date: [STRIKE]December 2015[/STRIKE] September 2015

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  • DX2
    DX2 Posts: 8,275 Forumite
    kelloggs36 wrote: »
    A friend of mine has been living off money that her ex pays her - he pays the mortgage and gives her £350 per month as maintenance (it was £1150 per month until he dropped it). I said that Income Support don't count maintenance as income, yet she insists that they told her that they do! I know that if it is done via the CSA that it is definitely disregarded, but can anybody tell me if this is still true if it is a private agreement? She currently gets tax credits on top of the £350 per month, but is struggling - and if she is entitled to claim IS, then she should. Can anybody point me to any legislation which states whether private agreement maintenance is also disregarded, or is it not?
    All child support is disregarded for benefit purposes, she probably got a numpty at the IS dept. Tell her to phone them again and speak to a supervisor, it doesn't matter whether it is done via the CSA or private.

    Think about it for a minute if they don't ignore child support for private agreements aren't things going to go belly up when they try and shift everyone (most) onto a private agreement.
    *SIGH*
    :D
  • shell_542
    shell_542 Posts: 1,333 Forumite
    DX2 wrote: »
    All child support is disregarded for benefit purposes, she probably got a numpty at the IS dept. Tell her to phone them again and speak to a supervisor, it doesn't matter whether it is done via the CSA or private.

    Think about it for a minute if they don't ignore child support for private agreements aren't things going to go belly up when they try and shift everyone (most) onto a private agreement.

    Child Maintenance Disregard

    Child maintenance income is currently fully disregarded when calculating entitlement to Housing Benefit, Council Tax Benefit and tax credits.

    But only £20 a week of any child maintenance income is disregarded when calculating entitlement to:

    Income Support
    Jobseeker’s Allowance (Income Based)
    (Income Related) Employment and Support Allowance.
    From 12 April 2010, child maintenance will be fully disregarded for all the above benefits.

    The aim is to give parents more incentive to take responsibility for their own child maintenance arrangements.

    It will encourage absent parents to pay maintenance because all the money will go to the children rather than the state.

    The full disregard applies only to child maintenance income. It does not apply to maintenance paid to support an adult (for example, spousal maintenance) or a sponsored immigrant.

    Maintenance paid to support an adult, a sponsored immigrant, or a child who is a sponsored immigrant, is taken fully into account.

    If a maintenance payment (whether for children or adults) takes the customer’s capital above the £6,000 threshold, the normal income related benefit capital rules will continue to apply.

    Taken from DWP website. All maintenance, no specification to only CSA cases. It might be that hes paying the mortgage and they regard that as spousal maintenance or "other income".
    August GC 10th - 10th : £200 / £70.61
    NSD : 2/8
  • kelloggs36
    kelloggs36 Posts: 7,712 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    I shall get her to verify that all the money is for child maintenance - otherwise he wouldn't pay the mortgage at all!
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