NEW TO TC. Advice needed ex pays mortgage is this ok?

brians_daughter

I split with ex some while ago and since have been working 60 plus hours a week with 3 small children and a teenager in tow. I can no longer (physically/mentally/emotionally) do this.

I have never claimed tax credits so have been 'googling' it.

The agreement i have with ex at the moment is as follows

we bought our home just in ex's name as i was moving jobs we have a legal agreement set up stating when we sell we split profit etc

According to csa calc ex should pay £400 pcm child support. Mortgage is £800. so he pays the £800 mortgage payment instead of child support- effectively we go halves as its joint concern.

All other bills etc are in my name as he moved out a long time ago.

I work a mix of nights and days and as he currently with his elderly mother in a 2 bed bungalow when i work nights (3 nights out of 14) he looks after children in my home. He comes as i am leaving and leaves as i come home

I need (for everyones sake, on docs orders) reduce my hours to an acceptable level ie 40hrs. But If i do this i cannot afford the childcare i would need so would need to apply for tc to assist us.

After reading other forums I have read horror stories concerning simular situations - would the fact the mortgage is in his name could cause concern for the tc people?

We cannot sell as in negative equity and i cannot at this moment afford to buy him out of the house. He cannot afford to live here and pay child supportt. I cannot afford to move out if he isnt contributing to the children, plus its so close for school etc so its ideal for all parties us being here and him at his mothers.

Would tc have an issue with this, ie mortgage in his name and him paying a portion of it instead of child support? Surely they would understand that with financial exit penalties and negative equity it is sensible me and the children being here?

brians_daughter

oh just to add he pays for sky for the eldest (in ex's name) i dont watch tv so just have freeview, but we allowed him sky in his room last xmas as a present. The contract is due up soon so depending upon cost i could easily move it over to my name

I am reluctant to claim as it is as i am a private person and dont like the thoughts of disclosing all my details etc (even though i relaise they already hold most of the info) but if its going to cause 'questions' with the set up we have (that thankfully works for us) i would consider going to maybe 50 hours and seeing how we coped

karenx

Tax credits have nothing to do with who pays what for maintenance/mortgage. They wont care

brians_daughter

karenx wrote: »

Tax credits have nothing to do with who pays what for maintenance/mortgage. They wont care

Thank you- i have read the term 'financial contribution to the household' being banded about.

In some eyes (ie HMRC) he could be seen as contributing if its his mortgage and he is paying it and i live here (although he does not?)

On another forum (i know you shouldnt believe all you read) a lady wass hit with a £5000 HRMC bill in a simular situation, hence my questions here today

RAS

Hi

Why do you not simply stuff. Instead of him paying al the mortgage, he pays you the money as maintenance and you pay the bill. That way, you are covered.

brians_daughter

RAS wrote: »

Hi

Why do you not simply stuff. Instead of him paying al the mortgage, he pays you the money as maintenance and you pay the bill. That way, you are covered.

Yes, i thought of this but the DD for the mortgage must come out of the account connected with the bank account the mortgage is with (written into the T&C's for the rate we get ) this is his account as we no longer have joint finances.

I have also toyed with the idea of him moving the child support £400 to me and me moving it back to him for my 1/2 of the mortgage iykwim? But that seems a bit of a faff as he gets paid the 15th and mortgage comes out the 15th so we would have to do it in arrears ie i move him the £400 for mortgage over on the 1st when i get paid then he moved the £400 support over on the 15th when he got paid, really just to leave a paper trail to show we are responsible for our own bills

I do tend to over think things in general anyway but reading some of the horror stories has further compounded my thought process.

karenx

Why have you not applied for child tax credits before?

You need to rethink things with regards to the mortgage etc, what will happen when he gets another house. He wont be able to pay your mortgage and his own. Will he even get a second mortgage while having this one. What if he meets a new partner etc etc etc

brians_daughter

karenx wrote: »

Why have you not applied for child tax credits before?

You need to rethink things with regards to the mortgage etc, what will happen when he gets another house. He wont be able to pay your mortgage etc

I have never claimed before as I was brought up to "provide for your own" and entitlement IMO doesn't mean you should take if you don't need to. re paining my mortgage and his own he is only contributing as it's a financial concern of both of ours.

The house is all in order, he cannot sell as in negative equity at the moment. I will be in a position in 18 months time to take over the mortgage without him so all that is sorted it's just this in-between period

zagfles

You have to be extremely careful with setups like this.

Because tax credits (& benefits) are far more generous to couples who have split up than they are to couples who are together, there is a big incentive for couples to pretend to have split up when they haven't really. They will look closely at things like who pays the household bills, and if he is paying some of the bills and staying over sometimes, this could look suspicious.

Some couples do go to amazing lengths to pretend to have split up when they haven't really, and HMRC are aware of this and do investigate. Don't get me wrong - I'm not implying that's what you're doing, but it could appear that way and you'll need to be prepared to prove that you're not still together.

brians_daughter

zagfles wrote: »

You have to be extremely careful with setups like this.

Because tax credits (& benefits) are far more generous to couples who have split up than they are to couples who are together, there is a big incentive for couples to pretend to have split up when they haven't really. They will look closely at things like who pays the household bills, and if he is paying some of the bills and staying over sometimes, this could look suspicious.

Some couples do go to amazing lengths to pretend to have split up when they haven't really, and HMRC are aware of this and do investigate. Don't get me wrong - I'm not implying that's what you're doing, but it could appear that way and you'll need to be prepared to prove that you're not still together.

thanks for the reply and apologies for my lateness in replying.

this is my concern. We arent together in any way shape or form, infact ex has a new partner. As stated originally i have read so many horror stories.

the sky was an xmas pressie to eldest and runs out in the next few weeks so have asked him to give notice - he couldnt before as tied in for 12 months

I can certianally prove that he is only here when i am working via my shift patterns etc but its teh mortgage that concerns me.

Hes moved everything over to his mothers in april after we had been apart a month or so and i claim single persons discount on council tax.

I really need to reduce my hours for the sake of my childrenn and i but realise with the mortgage in his name there could be issues with tc hence asking here 1st - if i didnt want to keep the house so much (for kids sake as much as mine its next door to school and my mum lives back to back with us) i would move completely but its just not an option

we can prove as much as anyone that we arent together as we arent, but as you say many people go to extreme lenghts and it reflects on legitimate claims

brians_daughter

Thanks for the imput