No longer together but living in his property - advice please?

zzzLazyDaisy

A tenancy agreement is not necessary for DWP/HMRC purposes, but has been suggested because it would give you more security. If you choose not to formalise the arrangement in this way, that is up to you.

The point about his mortgage is a valid one though - from his point of view, he should phone his lender and check that he is not in breach of his mortgage agreement by letting you live in the house, but making provision for your former partner and child is likely to be viewed in a different light than letting the property out on a commercial tenancy, so hopefully this wouldn't raise a problem. But In any case, that is a matter for him. If he chooses not to do this, it doesn't affect you unless he defaults on the mortgage and the house gets repossessed.

You cannot guarantee that you won't be investigated - everyone on tax credits or means tested benefits is potentially open to being investigated. But by keeping things as open and separate and above board as possible, you minimise the risk.

Icequeen99

Woolton wrote: »

again, thanks so much for all the replies, but this is getting really complicated now!

it's a temporary arrangement until 2015, i don't want to stay any longer than that, ex will have done more than enough by then, it will be my turn to support our child once i'm working full time and he can just pay some maintenance on a weekly or monthly basis.

i was really happy with the agreement, i was just worried that tax credits would put 2 & 2 together and assume we had reconciled, which we haven't and unfortunately never will. ex and i agreed it would be informal and casual, no tenancy agreements etc.. all i was going to do was transfer bills to my name, put my name on council tax/electoral roll and inform HMRC i had moved to this property, meanwhile ex would put his name back on his old property electoral roll/council tax etc..

is everything else necessary? it seems like alot of hassle for a temporary arrangment. will they really start investigating me if his name is no longer on anything? (except the mortgage) it just seems like if it's likely they will, then it's not worth it with having to try and prove things and having my tax credits stopped until it's proven we don't live together. i'd be better off just finding a small flat and having him pay standard maintenence.

The short answer is yes, they are likely to still pick you up on a compliance check with just the mortgage.

I have seen several of these cases where the only bind was a mortgage. HMRC use credit reference data to look for a financial connections.

That is why I and others have suggested all of the steps to take to protect yourself against this and to be able to show categorically that he is not living with you.

Him paying the bills is a bad idea, putting them in your name and sorting maintenance out is what you need to do. You need to have a paper trail that you could use to show there is an agreement in place.

If the only connection is the mortgage and you have done everything else suggested, then you should be ok. But anything that is forgotten or left as a financial connection between the two of you will add problems.

IQ

Woolton

zzzLazydaisy and Icequeen99 you have been so helpful & knowledgeable, so thank you.

Because it's all so rushed & I need to move in ASAP, if I inform HMRC & council tax/electoral roll of my change of address straight away and then get everything else sorted in the following couple of weeks (maintenance & all bills transferred) is that likely to make them look into me straight away? Will it come up on their screen that he lives here? If so I will need to not inform HMRC until everything else is taken care of, but I didn't want to do that as it's obviously withholding information of change of circumstance.