student loans,bursery, single parent consessions???

Joolee

so sorry if this has been covered before but im compeltely new to the student loan/uni stuff.
i'll try to be brief -
i have 2 children 20 and 18 (20 is working and 18 is hoping to go to uni this time)
my partner has 2 children - same ages - his 20 yr old is at uni and 18 yr old is also hoping to go this time)

as its new territoriy to me my 18 yr old is asking why she is not entitled to funding - im assuming its becasue my partner lives with me and our joint income is (on paper !) approx 47 k.

however my ex (dad to my kids) pays no money and im not in receipt of any ctc/ftc anymore
my partner pays his ex £750/month

in effect does this mean on paper we are over the threshold of any support and if so approx how much debt will this leave my daughter in at the end of uni

im guessing that my partners ex will be entitled to funding and any maintenace she receives from my partner will not be taken into account

i support im asking if there is any way around this/if there is a fund we can apply to in such circumstances/and what if anything i should be considering

many thanks for reading and im sorry if im repeating other peoples questions and anxieties just need a place to start really!!

devildog

If your household income is approx £47K then it appears that your daughter will not get any grants ('free money') she would be entitled to tuition fee loan and I would imagine a maintenance loan(can't find the figures on that right now ) it may be worth a go using the Student Finance calculator to get a better idea.
Don't have any idea re maintenance but if your partner's 18 year old goes to Uni then does this payment then stop? If it does then you will be £750 better off per month in a financial way, you will also be suprised at how much household bills drop when students leave for uni;)
It does appear unfair that partner's children living with ex could be entitled to a fair amount more than those living with you but the regulations don't allow for any 'wiggle' room unfortunately.

From what I can see on this years rates, if you were non-income assessed your daughter could be likely to receive approx £3575 in maintenance loans(repayable) per year plus a tuition fee loan of approx £9k per year. This is assuming she will not be in London. living at home and not doing a degree that is funded by the NHS.

It is an expensive time !!
The Unis do Hardship funds but I believe that is more for 'emergency' help rather than funding the whiole degree.

Joolee

thats really helpful thankyou
as for the £750 im aware it could stop when she goes to uni but its unlikely

any more advice is more than welcome!!

Dunroamin

Sorry, I'm puzzled as to why you've titled the thread "single parent concessions" when you're not a single parent.

Fire_Fox

What do you mean on paper, you mean you would have £47K coming in if your ex paid what he was supposed to? If so is the Child Support Agency on the case? Or do you mean you have £47K coming in but then so many commitments between the four children so you don't see all the money? Doesn't child support stop at 19 if the child is still in full time education?

IMO aim for everything to be reassessed with any changes in income or outgoings, if you are obligated to contribute to two children at university, ask for the 20 year old's child support and university funding to be reassessed by the CSA and SFE respectively.

If your 20 year old is still living at home are they contributing enough or just a token amount? Would they prefer to move out than pay proper rent? Could you let a bedroom? Could either of your 18 year olds take a year out, work/ save up, also giving you breathing space with your finances, the older children being a step closer to graduating?

Joolee

its 47k coming in but my partner pays £750/month to his ex - regardless of whether its legal obilgation and i cant see that stopping when his daughter reaches 19.

i suppose im frustrated that my ex doesnt pay any longer and so essentially i am a single parent in terms of offering financial support to my child as my partner provides generous support to his ex but she is still classed as a sinlge parent so im guessing gets other grants my daughter is not entitled to.

my 20 yr old pays £30/week and earms around £150 - i think that is reasonable.

I wouldnt expect my daughter to put her training on hold for a year as my partners daughter certainly wont be. i was really asking what grants were available as this is my first experience of uni - i want it to be right for her and not be setting her up for endless debt with no real specific prospects at the end of it all - just weighing up the pro's and cons

bestpud

Joolee wrote: »

its 47k coming in but my partner pays £750/month to his ex - regardless of whether its legal obilgation and i cant see that stopping when his daughter reaches 19.

i suppose im frustrated that my ex doesnt pay any longer and so essentially i am a single parent in terms of offering financial support to my child as my partner provides generous support to his ex but she is still classed as a sinlge parent so im guessing gets other grants my daughter is not entitled to.

my 20 yr old pays £30/week and earms around £150 - i think that is reasonable.

I wouldnt expect my daughter to put her training on hold for a year as my partners daughter certainly wont be. i was really asking what grants were available as this is my first experience of uni - i want it to be right for her and not be setting her up for endless debt with no real specific prospects at the end of it all - just weighing up the pro's and cons

I'm afraid you need to look at your new partner rather than student finance.

He made a commitment when he moved in with you and needs to reconsider the maintenance payments if you can't afford to support both girls.

How about suggesting he negotiate a reduction in the child maintenance once his daughter is 18? Maybe start reducing the monthly payments by £200 once a year?

I presume he won't pay it when she is working so it would be good for her mother too, as she is going to have a massive income drop coming and it would cushion the blow, if that is what he's worried about.

ETA: £30 a week on an income of £150 is cheap! A lot of parents charge a third as that is closer to real life.

Joolee

couldnt agree more bestpud!

just looking properly at the figures now my daughter is not entitled to a grant as our income is over the threshold but his daughter is entitled to a full grant.
its not as though the money he gives his ex is actually going towards supporting his daughter in uni - his son who is in his 2nd yr is managing on grants and loans available and doing really well with his budgetting.

i have talked about the money she will lose but his reasoning will always be wanting a roof over his kids head when they come home etc etc so i expect it to continue until their mortgage is paid off which i think is about 5 years. you are right that he made a commitment when he moved in but equally i knew what i was taking on and the generosity frustrations around that (another story!!!). at the end of the day it seems unfair that my daughter seems to lose out - she is my responsibility not his afterall

Joolee

...and his daughter is 18 now

dizzyrascal

So, just to be clear, the £750 is not paid to the daughter but it is paid to the ex wife so that she can pay the mortgage and keep a roof over their heads.
I presume your partner has agreed to this, it sounds like this is effectively their divorce agreement (whether a formal or informal one)
Unless they did a clean break agreement then you have to live with this.
Your problem really stems from the fact that you're ex contributes nothing. (I know how this feels, my ex left the country to avoid paying)

Joolee

i suppose so yes
the 750 is an informal agreement to his ex wife (although if she had gone through the CSA he would have to pay £53/wk which is a huge difference!)
my ex was paying until 6 months ago when he decided to stop.
if im honest having thought about it and worked out the figures of partners daughters entitlements against my daughters it seems very unfair that we seem to be losing from every angle