Help with what benefits a single parent should get

loopylass

Hi
My son has been awarded an interim care order by a judge of his 2 children so has given up his college to care for them full time but need to know what he is entitled to
he has applied and been awarded income support
he has applied for child benefit but as the mother is still claiming although he has had them since november his got to get proof
They are living with us at the moment but on the housing list

he was paying maintenance through csa and has contacted them does the mother have to pay it
his been told he has to apply for child tax too and change the childrens funding from government over but if the funding is in the childs name is there a need to unless the mother can take it out, my son wold like to add to te savings but not if the mother can take it out
Is there anything else he needs to do both children are under 2 years 7 months

Its not a good situation with my sons ex social services has been involved from the start and its taken this long to finally get them safe

thanks for any advice

BigAunty

You can identify the benefit entitlements on the Turn2us online benefit calculator.

Off the top of my head, he should get about £71 income support, £33 child benefit and around £120 in child tax credits.

Yes, the non-resident parent is expected to pay towards child maintenance. A couple can either negotiate a sum in a private capacity or one can take the other to the CSA who will use a formula to identify it. See the Direct Gov and CSA websites for info.

Off the top of my head again, I think the formula is 20% of their net weekly income. It doesn't affect benefits, it is paid on top of them without any impact on them. How much does she earn?

benefitbaby

My best guess is that Mum is claiming CTC and so he should put in a claim so that HMRC can pay him as the parent with care.

It may take a while as they will need evidence of primary care as with CB.

Mum should be paying maintenance if your son is the parent with care of the children.

The difficulty with your son's case is that it is an interim care order.

Other than that housing and council tax benefit.

justlooking2012

This could have been exactly my story you were writing except that I stayed in work, but that was with help from my granddad so not all down to me.

I think you mean an interim residence order.

Firstly child benefit takes ages to change over, you have to send them in the court order and also their birth certificates. It could still take upto three months though.

Only when you have child benefit can he then claim CTC or WTC, but they do backdate both CB and CTC or WTC, well they did in my case(CB and WTC).

Also he will be entitled to full HB and Council tax credit upto your Local authority's housing allowance, I know all this as a woman from Cafcass visited me and told me all this, if she would have read her notes though she would have seen I worked.

Yes she will have to pay maintenance if working, if on benefit its £5 per week per child(I never bothered with this though).

Also your son will need to keep original copies of the court order and birth certificates on him at all times. This is for registering at doctors and schools, the school will probably ask for a copy as well.

I cannot think of anything else of hand but if you need any other advice, even slightly confidential then PM me, he probably gets legal aid but htey are cutting back on that heavily and things can crop up, I have quite a lot of knowledge in this area unfortunately its cost me 30k plus lol

GOOD LUCK

benefitbaby

To be entitled to CTC don’t have to be getting CB.

The usual criteria is that it is the person that the child is “normally living with” (reg. 3 CTC Regs).

It is possible that different people get CB and CTC for same child as CB can also be paid to someone who contributes to the cost of supporting the child but does not normally live with them.

This is why HMRC will need to explore the completing claims angle and the residence order will be relevant to prove the children live with your son.

justlooking2012

benefitbaby wrote: »

To be entitled to CTC don’t have to be getting CB.

The usual criteria is that it is the person that the child is “normally living with” (reg. 3 CTC Regs).

It is possible that different people get CB and CTC for same child as CB can also be paid to someone who contributes to the cost of supporting the child but does not normally live with them.

This is why HMRC will need to explore the completing claims angle and the residence order will be relevant to prove the children live with your son.

Okay but my experience was different as they would not pay WTC to me until the CB was paid to me and this took upto 3 months, yes they had the residence order and Birth certificate but unless the mother just gives it up then they have to "investigate" and when they investigated it took three months even though they had concrete proof

benefitbaby

justlooking2012 wrote: »

Okay but my experience was different as they would not pay WTC to me until the CB was paid to me and this took upto 3 months, yes they had the residence order and Birth certificate but unless the mother just gives it up then they have to "investigate" and when they investigated it took three months even though they had concrete proof

I wish I had been your adviser as I would have challenged this strenuously. HMRC must follow the law as set out in this situation and if they fail to do so this is grounds for a complaint, possible judicial review, or the involvement of the ombudsman. I think financial redress is in order in this scenario due to the failure in following the law.

justlooking2012

benefitbaby wrote: »

I wish I had been your adviser as I would have challenged this strenuously. HMRC must follow the law as set out in this situation and if they fail to do so this is grounds for a complaint, possible judicial review, or the involvement of the ombudsman. I think financial redress is in order in this scenario due to the failure in following the law.

I never had an advisor and at £220 +vat an hour its not something I would want my solicitor dealing with

loopylass

BigAunty wrote: »

You can identify the benefit entitlements on the Turn2us online benefit calculator.

Off the top of my head, he should get about £71 income support, £33 child benefit and around £120 in child tax credits.

Yes, the non-resident parent is expected to pay towards child maintenance. A couple can either negotiate a sum in a private capacity or one can take the other to the CSA who will use a formula to identify it. See the Direct Gov and CSA websites for info.

Off the top of my head again, I think the formula is 20% of their net weekly income. It doesn't affect benefits, it is paid on top of them without any impact on them. How much does she earn?

Well until November she was a full time mother so dont work but has said she is looking for a job now as she seems more interested in the money rather than the children and thats why she is still claiming for the childrens benefits but hasnt got the children
She is allowed 2 das contact at the moment but social services want it at a contact center after full hearing

princessdon

Just to add

is it too late for college?

They should pay his full childcare and a vulnerable adult payment so he can stay. The VA payment depends on many things but minimum would be bus pass and meals at college with full childcare.

Please do ask student support at college.

Also depending on his age - their is Care to Learn to pay funds.

It's best if he stays in education if possible long term.

benefitbaby

justlooking2012 wrote: »

I never had an advisor and at £220 +vat an hour its not something I would want my solicitor dealing with

I work for a charity so it would have been free, not saying that to be offensive just to remind MSE posters that advice can be free via legal aid, or welfare rights units or CAB etc.