Shared Residency Order & Money

Suzy69

Hi, this is my first post on here so any advice will be greatly received. I have a Shared Residency Order with my ex wife - the children live with me 2 thirds of their time and with their mother the other third. I currently get the tax credits and child benefit as I am working full time albeit in a low paid job. My ex wife has just put in a claim for the Child Benefit and this has resulted in my payments being suspended for the time being until we both complete a form to say how the children's time is divided between us. My new partner is due to move in with me shortly and we are both concerned that we will be stung into having to pay money to my ex wife. My ex wife has never worked in her entire life (she is almost 40 and has claimed benefits all her life). My partner is currently out of work but is looking for work and will be on jobseekers once she moves in with me (my partner has worked for 25 years of her adult life). Can anybody please give me advice please as I am literally unable to afford to live in my current home and pay my ex wife if this is the case. I have been to Court and the Judge has not ordered that I pay my ex wife any monies but her solicitor seems hell bent on trying her hardest to get me to pay. Many thanks for any advice which can be given and apologies for this being so long. :eek:

shegirl

I won't comment on maintenance,as that could work both ways.

What I will say is,if the mother doesn't work and you claim all the benefits for the children,when they are with her (due to your shared care) what money does she have to actually provide for them?Can her benefits really cover it?

That's what I'd be considering rather than talking about maintenance applications which may happen on this thread.

With shared care being in place I'd be wanting to ensure she can provide for the kids properly when they're with her tbh.But,then,if it was just 'contact' then nobody would bother LOL

PS I'm not giving great replies tonight as in a fun mood,but seriously,given her benefit status I'd be looking into splitting some money for provision for the kids while they're with her -just proportion it.That said,to me it would depend on how the time is split too.So maybe more details would help come up with something reasonable?

And you could claim maintenance

Mark148

What does it say in the Court Order regarding the division of time spent with parents and how long have you been in receipt of CB

Suzy69

Hi Mark148, it states that they live with mum for every other weekend and an overnight during the week, the rest of the time with me. School hols are split 50/50. The Judge mentioned nothing about money and my Barrister told me my benefits would not be affected as I had been in receipt of them for nearly a year. Thanks for your reply

kevin137

Suzy69 wrote: »

Hi Mark148, it states that they live with mum for every other weekend and an overnight during the week, the rest of the time with me. School hols are split 50/50. The Judge mentioned nothing about money and my Barrister told me my benefits would not be affected as I had been in receipt of them for nearly a year. Thanks for your reply

For me it would be simple, send a copy of the court order to CB, recorded delivery of course, and phone them and tell them that it needs to be reinstated and stay there unto the point where a different court order is presented to prove that the situation has changed.

The problem you will have if you don't get this sorted quickly, is the next thing moved will be CTC and WTC. Then you will get a demand from the CSA if she gets the CB.

Be quick and don;t let them screw you over.

Mark148

Submit a copy of the Court order to CB and that should resolve the situation send it RD and outline the fact that you are the 'mainstay' in your childrens life and that they reside with you for the majority of the time.

You shouldn't really have any issues. As for SheGirls comments then that is for you to decide however me personally I would not share benefits with my ex and would also request maintenance even if it is only £5 per week.

Good luck

PreludeForTimeFeelers

Mark148 wrote: »

Submit a copy of the Court order to CB and that should resolve the situation send it RD and outline the fact that you are the 'mainstay' in your childrens life and that they reside with you for the majority of the time.

You shouldn't really have any issues. As for SheGirls comments then that is for you to decide however me personally I would not share benefits with my ex and would also request maintenance even if it is only £5 per week.

Good luck

It won't be a fiver though, it'll be nil assessed due to the overnight stays.

bugsy2009

my brother in law has shared residency of his 2 children with his ex, he has them 4 nights she has them 3 nights a week, he works shes on benefits. They decided to each claim for one of the children so she gets child benefit and child tax for one and he gets child benefit working and child tax for the other.

kevin137

bugsy2009 wrote: »

my brother in law has shared residency of his 2 children with his ex, he has them 4 nights she has them 3 nights a week, he works shes on benefits. They decided to each claim for one of the children so she gets child benefit and child tax for one and he gets child benefit working and child tax for the other.

Which works well until the one on benefits decides that she could have more money from his wages as well...

At which point the person with primary care would need to put in a CB claim for both children to stop the CSA abusing his money.

bugsy2009

kevin137 wrote: »

Which works well until the one on benefits decides that she could have more money from his wages as well...

At which point the person with primary care would need to put in a CB claim for both children to stop the CSA abusing his money.

yes you are right as she's tried to put a child benefit claim in a few times for the other child, if he really wanted he could claim for both as he has primary care but he puts up with her antics all the same for the sake of the kids. Ex is trying to get maintenance out of the father of child from previous relationship but hasn't gone through with the threats of trying for it out of brother in law yet. I know he pays maintenance for his daughter from a previous relationship so she wouldn't get much anyway, plus he only works 3 days a week due to childcare so not on a great wage.
He's also trying to get another house as he lives in a one bedroomed flat(really bunch of rooms in victorian house with no secure front door of his own) where he has the two kids(boy 3 and girl 5) and 15 year old daughter at weekends so his rent would go up, council won't help as he's not classed as overcrowded!

FBaby

In your case OP, it doesn't sound like shared care at all any way. They are with you 10 days out of 14, and her 4. That's pretty standard. On which basis did she decide she could apply for CB? Surely it will be for her to prove they are with her more nights, or at least as many as you, which clearly isn't the case.

If she indeed only has them one night a week and every other weekend and pays no maintenance, she really has the cheek to be going for CB...