Will my partner have to pay csa?

FBaby

Just a question OP, why can't you move in together sooner? Just the fact that this is what you are intending to do would most likely be considered as you being a couple and therefore you not entitled to IS.

Ivy89

I don't want to move in together sooner as this is my first child and is rather have the support of y family and wait till we are used to being new parents before moving in together. I don't really want to move into my partners house either as its been his Bachelor pad forso long it wouldn't feel like my home only his. He plans on putting it on the market come February time so it depends when it sells that ill move into a new home together with him. We can't really afford to live together yet, the only way we could is if i went back to work when baby is six months and I can't stand the idea we had a baby just for someone else to raise them or see them through all the milestones. It's my responsibility noone else's.

I hope you don't think I plan on scamming the system. It's really not my intention. When I signed off the dole for maternity they gave me all the paperwork for my maternity pay and asked me questions like would I be living with my partner etc , then told me when my ma allowance was up that I'd be claiming income support as a single parent as I won't be able to claim jsa as I won't be looking for a job st that point.

I really wish I didn't have to be in a position to claim benefits but I have to keep my vehicle running and provide for the baby. If we moved in together at te moment I would have no money and my partner would have very little to provide the baby with much apart from nappies. He works long hours and I would have to give up my car which I need - at the moment especially since they've discovered baby has minor kidney issues that require scans as soon as he's born, and you know how hospitals are with appointments. I would never of allowed myself to get pregnant yet if I thought I'd be in this situation. When I got pregnant I had my job and had been working for over a year and thought it was quite safe. Money would of been tight but we would of been able to afford it. Unfortunately when I was six weeks they dismissed me as there "wasn't any work" there which is rubbish but I can't prove different. I tried until I was about twenty six weeks to get a new job but by that time I was probably showing and no one would hire me. My final paycheck i saved to get everything for baby , not one penny for myself but unfortunately that's just a few pounds now and won't keep him in nappies for long.

kevin137

FBaby wrote: »

You don't get what I'm saying. OP intends to claim Income Support, which she can only do if she claims as a single parent. She is not a single parent, she is in a relationship, just temporarily living separately to the man she refers as her partner. She will have no problem claiming, but if she was to be reported (not randomly checked), and they investigated her claim, there is a good chance she could be found to have claimed fraudulently. The fact that her partner didn't pay maintenance will go against them to justify that she really is a single parent.

If they have never lived together, then there is no concern...

The Benefits agency are more inclined to go for people who ARE living together but saying they are not, i don't get how the OP has or would be ding anything wrong, and to be fair, there are many people who are in a relationship but do not live together even with kids involved, it is personal choice and nothing to do with the DWP regarding living arrangements as lone as the declaration is accurate, then what is the problem...?

Mojisola

Ivy89 wrote: »

I don't want to move in together sooner as this is my first child and is rather have the support of y family and wait till we are used to being new parents before moving in together. I don't really want to move into my partners house either as its been his Bachelor pad forso long it wouldn't feel like my home only his. He plans on putting it on the market come February time so it depends when it sells that ill move into a new home together with him. We can't really afford to live together yet, the only way we could is if i went back to work when baby is six months and I can't stand the idea we had a baby just for someone else to raise them or see them through all the milestones. It's my responsibility noone else's.

The child has two parents and they are both responsible - financially and otherwise. Instead you want yourself and the taxpayer to pay for the baby.

You probably will be able to claim benefits but, as you have someone who you call your partner and you've had a baby together, just how are you not a couple?

FBaby

No one is forcing you to move in together right away, but you ARE a couple supporting each other and as such, living together or not, your partner and not the tax payers should be supporting you and your baby. You are NOT a single parent.

Kevin, I don't think this is the case. If they were to be found to be living as husband and wife, even if not living in the same home, they would be deemed a couple and not entitled to IS. It all comes down to the investigation and they are now becoming much less lenient about couples who chose to live separately, often for the exact reason the OP is doing it, because they gained financially to do so.

Personally, I think it is a risk not worth taking, especially if only for 6 months. It would be a lot of money to pay back and could settle them back. If OP still lives at her parents, she might not need to pay for many bills. She will be get child benefit, some joint tax credits and if her partner provides her with some maintenance for the baby and her, she should be able to budget so that she doesn't need to claim IS.

kevin137

FBaby wrote: »

Kevin, I don't think this is the case. If they were to be found to be living as husband and wife, even if not living in the same home, they would be deemed a couple and not entitled to IS. It all comes down to the investigation and they are now becoming much less lenient about couples who chose to live separately, often for the exact reason the OP is doing it, because they gained financially to do so.

They cannot under UK law be found to be living as husband and wife if they do not live together...

It is a myth that common law husband/wife even exists in the UK, they have not lived together anytime then they cannot be judged under benefit applications to be cohabiting for the purposes of making a claim, that would be unlawful in so many ways it would be wrong...

I understand your comments and where you are coming from, and this is why the benefits system in the UK sucks, because it is the tax payer that ends up paying. But it would in no way be fraud in this case, if they had lived together previously, and he had moved out to claim this, then yes, i would agree, but it is very clear cut when they have never lived together that they cannot be cohabiting, and thus it would be a single persons claim...!

kevin137

I will expand more on my reasoning... I was in a relationship with my current g/f for 3 years, we lived together in Norway but i stayed 5 of 7 days in the UK in a property i owned for the purposes of work, and i commuted ever other week for 10 days straight pretty much every 2nd week...

The idea of cohabitation for the purposes of the government means you live together, and i agree, we lived together, had a relationship together, and everything was disclosed to everyone...

In Norway it was simple, i was not here enough to be classed as legally cohabiting with my partner, so she was able to claim as a single person. All the time i paid council tax in the UK, this was there stand, and was completely legal. What it meant in terms of money was the difference of about £100 a week here in Norway, what it meant in the UK was, i paid single persons council tax, it was disclosed to the CSA the Council and my employer, i was deemed as a resident of Norway as declared as my home address, but had to pay council tax here as i was resident here more than there, but it was not my home... SO i qualified for a 25% discount, even though my g/f was declared as being my partner and us living together. Albeit in a different country.

The CSA are a different case, they would not include the 2 children living with me, because they where NOT in this country, and as such i had to pay the full 15% of 100% of my income. However, reciprocal agreements are very strange, as i could legally claim CB for them, and as such CTC even though the children had never lived in the country, because BOTH governments had us as cohabiting but as single parents...

I will add i did NOT claim CB or CTC but i did claim travelling costs against the CSA which was a very long drawn out process as it incurred costs for a 2400 return trip every 2 weeks... Haha

So my thought stands on there reasoning, even declaring fully means you are not always living together, and as the DWP uses the same standards across all it's departments, it is not possible for them to be classed as living together if they are not...

FBaby

I'm sorry Kevin, but I think you are wrong. Not living under the same roof is not in itself an immediate route to being to claim as a single parent. Otherwise, many would just do exactly what the OP intends on doing for many years. Of course, it is the biggest factor to make the claim, but any investigation would consider how much time you spend together, how others perceive you as a couple, whether maintenance is paid, how much time they spend together as a family etc...

There have been threads here with people being investigated under these exact circumstances and rightly so. Why should OP be entitled to receive £100s in tax payers money when she DOES have a partner who should be supporting them. The fact that they might struggle to afford a car is not a good enough reason to claim as a single parent.

Mojisola

The benefits system was designed to be a safety net for people in trouble - not so that someone could make a life style choice of "not wanting to move into his bachelor flat because I won't feel comfortable there"!

Ivy - if you had to go round your neighbours and ask for money so that you can live in the way you're choosing - would you still do it, could you still justify it? Just because you can fill in a form and then take your neighbours' taxes to live off doesn't make it moral.

Two of you have made a child that you both are responsible for, you were pregnant for nine months - how long does it take to sort yourselves out?

Ivy89

Excuse me I didn't come on this board and ask a question to be abused by you automatically assuming I'm a scrounger.
We are sorted out I just simply am not ready to move in with someone and have a new baby all in The same time. I saw this as being the more sensible choice especially as if we did we would not be financially able to cope at all. My partner is the one pushing for me to move in with him and whilst I would love to be as a family I can't see how we could afford it in the slightest. How do you suppose I "sort ourselves out" ?. I have provided everything for my baby through my own money , I didn't scavenge it like you seem to think I do.
You say would I go round my neighbours and ask hem for the money?. Course not but then again my neighbours have claimed every benefit under the sun and worked about a month in their lives and are now retired and "disabled". On contrary to my family and my grandfather in the same street who have always worked or even run their own businesses , and THEY would much rather pay their taxpayer money for me to help provide for my son than the other two.

I told you I would much rather have been still in my job. I didn't get Pregnant planning on becoming a benefits mother. I searched and applied for jobs constantly after i lost my job. My partner hasn't got much spare money after the bills apart from to buy food for so he will only be able to provide a few bob. He certainly wouldn't have enough left to pay the 15% csa require. My own family are having financial difficulties so I pay board and lodge to them.

I wouldn't choose to claim benefits if there was some other way but there isn't. I need a vehicle - I have an anxiety disorder (which I'm sure you'll think is rubbish but I had counselling for many years and its taken me long enough to get to this point and I've never claimed a penny for it which I was suggested to do. But I couldn't manage public transport alone). Cars as you well know aren't cheap. The same as babies. And I stil need to pay board an lodge to my parents. Unfortunately the situation they are in could mean they could lose their home when their savings run out so they are definately not in the position to provide for me and a new baby without any financial help, or to lend me any money. So where do you suppose I get the money to provide for my family? Pluck it out of thin air?. It would of never of crossed my mind that id be able to claim income support as a single person after my maternity is up, but the Jobcentre said that's what I would be claiming instead of jobseekers. After what my aunt said I just thought I'd ask - if the jobcentre said that's what I'd have to claim how was I to know I'd be "trying to scam the system"?.