Income support

mum-of-two_2

My friend's husband has left her (and left the house) with 2 school-age children.

She only has a part time job, for 5 hours a weeks associated with school (as she has nobody to look after the kids during school holidays).

She is currently (in addition to her wages) receiving Child tax credit, child benefit and will get maintenance (I think it's been agreed but not started coming through yet).

She is paying the mortgage and all her bills.

What alternative source of money does she have?

We've looked at Income Support on Directgov and she's not entitled to it as a lone parent as her youngest is 8.

However it says this:
Who can get Income Support


It's for people who all the following apply to:

• are between age 16 and the age they can get Pension Credit
• have a low income
• work less than 16 hours a week, depending on the amount of your wage
• aren't in full-time study (but there are some exceptions)
• don't get Jobseeker's Allowance or Employment and Support Allowance
• don't have savings above £16,000
• live in Great Britain

We think my friend fulfills all the categories but we're not sure what 'low income' covers.

Is this a certain amount per week/per month?
If so, what is the figure?

Do they take everything into account:
salary
child tax credit
child benefit
child maintenance

when assessing what income you have?

I know the answer is to claim and see what they say - she has an appointment next week with an advisor - but we're just looking for a bit of information before she attends the meeting.

Thanks

clearingout

I forget the amount Income Support is - somewhere around £65 - £70 a week. Is she earning more or less than that?

I think the sticking point will be the age of her youngest and the expectation will be that she increases her working hours if she needs more money. She can use holiday clubs during school holidays if necessary and as it stands, tax credits will pay up to 70% of the cost of that.

gingergee

Think they'll put her on JSA and deduct what she earns. She will get to keep the first £20 of whatever she earns (i think, someone will correct me if i am wrong lol).
She will get HB (if rented) CTB, CTC. Any child support will be ignored. If she was to get a part time job (16 hrs), then i think she will get help towards childcare, even in the hols. xxx

BigAunty

Who owns the property?

Shelter has a relationship breakdown section on their website which will give her some idea if he should be paying towards the mortgage, court orders for occupancy or if he has the right to take up occupancy again (should he be a joint owner).

mum-of-two_2

Thanks for the replies.

The Jobcentre told her she is not entitled to Income Support.
She is now in receipt of JSA.

The house is in joint names and there is quite a lot of equity in it.
She wants to keep the house and he wants to sell.

Her solicitor told her that he can insist the house is put up for sale unless she can buy him out (which she can't afford to do).
The solictor did say that if the youngest child was older (maybe 15, he's 8) the court may have decided that she can stay in the house until he was 18.

Similar houses in the area aren't selling, one was on the market for almost 2 years until they took it off the market.

2 other friends have told her (despite the solicitors advice) that under 'The Family Law' he can't make her sell and make her and the kids 'homeless'.

I'm no expert but I don't think that the law will see it as her being made homeless as there is sufficient equity in the house for her to be able to buy a 3 bedroom property in the same area (albeit maybe not where she might wish to live i.e. ex council property on a large estate) outright from her probable share of the house.

I'm concerned that she is building her hopes up based on 'barrackroom lawyers' opinions.
These friends told her she will be able to stay in the house before she asked the solicitors advice and are now telling her the solicitor is wrong.
They also advised her that she would get Income Support as a lone parent (one of them gets this) but I showed her the Directgov website that showed her that her youngest was too old.

I've googled Family law and can't find anything that I can understand.

Thanks

FBaby

It will all come down to whether he is prepared to take her to court and how good her solicitor is. I was tools in the past that if Rhett its enough equity in the house for the family to be rehoused appropriately that judges are supportive of a sale so her solicitor would need to make a case for why it is essential she stays in this property rather than what she would like. If there is enough equity to buy something outright in her sole name wouldn't she prefer this option and cut all financial ties?

Hmm71

I'd advise your friend to listen to the solicitors or Shelter, not "friends" who presumably have no expertise in the field. I'm always amazed at the amount of people who say, not just on this forum, "but my friend says...." as if the friend is a qualified expert.

mum-of-two_2

Thanks for the replies.

FBaby
He has left my friend for someone else.
He has been particularly nasty, I have no doubt that he will take her to court to get his money out of the house.
They are currently going through mediation, have pretty much agreed on contact for the children but I think the financials will be much harder to agree on.
My friend believes he has not declared all his savings or all his pension details.
Given the amount of equity in the property and the fact she could afford to buy a house outright with her share, I can't see any solicitor (however good they are) being able to convince a judge that she should stay in the existing property.
But Hey! That's just my opinion (based on - I'd like to think - a modicum of common sense) so I guess she'll have to wait and see.
I agree that it would be good to have a clean break but she feels wronged.

Hmm71
Tell me about it!
I always try to back up my advice/opinion with actual fact - whether from online official sources or official documents - but I think she prefers to listen to a more optimistic viewpoint.
And I haven't been through a divorce and some of her friends have so I think she listens to them more than me for that reason.

Can I ask what you think about the advice on Family Law?

clearingout

if she can buy outright, can she buy within the same school catchment?

mum-of-two_2

Yes, she could buy outright in the same catchment area - which is one of the reasons why I can't see her being allowed to stay in the house.

As I (sort-of) said earlier, it wouldn't be as big a house as she has now and it wouldn't be on a nice, private estate but I know there are ex-council houses within a 10 minute walk of where she is now or even nearer to the kids' schools.

clearingout

in which case she will probably struggle to hold onto the house in a divorce court. In the early days, it can take some getting used to the idea - a bit of time, a few conversations with a solicitor and a root around a divorce website might help shift her thinking. Tell her to try wikivorce.com for additional information.