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Benefits and shared custody of my child

Hi all,

I've just broken up with the mother of my 3 and half year old child. She will be continuing to live in our family home (rented) and I will be forced to find a new place to rent. I work full time (39 hours a week) and she also wants to do the same and from what I have worked out we would have exactly 50/50 custody of our child.

She seems to have checked this out before the break up and claims that with housing benefit, child benefit and working tax credits that SHE will be gettting a total of £560(ish). From the little information I can gather from HMRC it seems as if that only one of us can claim these things for our child and there is no process of legally forcing to split the benefits 50/50.

Having spoken to a couple of people already some people have taken a gender bias and automatically agreed that as the mother she should be entitled to the benefits. However, I am being the one asked to leave forcing me to 'sofa surf' to save for a new place, will also be expected to double up on all the basics for our child (eg. bed), have paid all rent and bills over the past 3 and a half years, and from now on we will both be working full time and earning very similar wages.

So basically I'm here to ask if anyone has been in a similar situation and can offer me any advice. Thanks in advance :)

Comments

  • sulkisu
    sulkisu Posts: 1,285 Forumite
    edited 30 July 2012 at 9:09AM
    I don't think it is a gender bias. It is only right that the person with primary custody of the child who should be the one to caim benefits for that child, whether that is the mother or the father.

    You are both entitled to claim benefits, WTC and HB etc - whether you receive it or not will depend on your personal circumstances and individual incomes. Only one of you can claim CB. You say that you will both be working full-time and earning similar wages. If your ex earns too much, then she will not be entitled to anything, nor will you. Her WTC will likely include an element for child care. Without this, you would both need to stump up additional funds to pay for childcare.

    If you are both on your current tenancy agreement, there is no need for you to sofa-surf as you do not have to leave the house. You could continue to share the home or you could insist that she and your child move out, or you could go for full custody of your child. I am guessing that you have both decided that it would be better for one of you to move out and better for your child to remain in their current home.

    Although you say you have worked and paid the bills for the three years since your daughter was born, I assume that this was because you both jointly decided that this was best - either for personal or financial reasons.
  • BigAunty
    BigAunty Posts: 8,310 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    It's up to the parents to negotiate the receipt of benefits paid to the one with primary care (where the GP and school address is registered, for example), not up to the govt to micro manage every benefit budget for families that undergo relationship breakdowns.

    I assume that it is the child tax credits and child benefit that you are interested in receiving half (rather than housing benefit which is for the property in which she resides or any working tax credits, for example).

    What child maintenance payment decisions have you made or have you jointly decided that none is due to similar salaries and child care, for example? Child support doesn't affect the receipt of benefits, it's paid on top.

    The originator of the split, your historic payment of household bills are irrelevant to your benefit entitlements.

    You could double check if you are due any benefits by putting your details into the Turn2us online benefit calculator. Note that only one parent gets the HB entitlement for the children - the govt doesn't double pay across two households.
  • HappyMJ
    HappyMJ Posts: 21,115 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    You need to agree to a private arrangement regarding benefits and CSA. One parent will get the extra bedroom allowance for the property and one won't so the higher income earner should allow the lower income earner to claim the full benefit to get the most benefit. Then you could choose to split all expenses based on time spent with parents...i.e 50/50 or you could pay the other parent the full amount of child support and that parent pays all the childs expenses such as new clothes etc....it's totally up to you.
    :footie:
    :p Regular savers earn 6% interest (HSBC, First Direct, M&S) :p Loans cost 2.9% per year (Nationwide) = FREE money. :p
  • paddedjohn
    paddedjohn Posts: 7,512 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture
    If you are sofa surfing as you say then surely it's not a good idea to have your kid staying with you 50% of the time. I see where you are coming from regarding the benefits but only one person can claim and in this case it's the mother, the unjust thing is that she can claim the benefits and still get 15% of your wages (you can get a discount due to having your child overnight regularly) without it affecting benefits.
    Be Alert..........Britain needs lerts.
  • Thank you all for your advice, so basically I am going to have to suck it up and try my hardest to keep things amicable ;)

    Thanks again :)
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