Help for a friend

busymumy

Hi, im posting on behalf of my friend.

She has just split up with her husband (hes been cheating) the house she owns is in her and her ex's name so he has no claim on it. (they have only been married a year)

Anyway she has 2 children at home, aged 9 and 13. She works at a local supermaket and use to do nights. She now cant work nights as she doesnt want to leave the children at home. And as there are no day hours available she has had to drop to 20 hours.

She is struggling with mortgage and bills and just wondered if there was any help out there for her?

Thanks in advance.

paddedjohn

Tax credits most probably and CSA if he is their father not too sure what you mean regards the house, if she co-owns with an ex then her half of the house could be deemed a marriage asset by her husband.

pmlindyloo

Is she claiming any benefits at the moment? if she is then she needs to notify them of her change in circumstances.


As she is a single parent she only needs to work 16 hours a week to be eligible for working tax credits.


Basically she can apply for working and child tax credits and possible council tax reduction.


She can use the benefits calculator to see what her entitlements might be.


http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/benefits-check

BigAunty

Encourage her to put her details into the Turn2us online benefit calculator to see if she has a low enough income to qualify for child tax credits, working tax credits and council tax discount. She needs to work at least 16 hours a week to be eligible for WTC.

See the Direct Gov website for information on the Support for Mortgage Interest scheme. It's usually only available for people on certain types of benefits and then some of them for only a temporary period.

Not aware of any direct govt support to assist mortgage repayments for those in low paid employment - get her to look at the Shelter website for her options to avoid mortgage arrears and repossession.

Has she got an agreement for child support from the non resident parent? If she can't negotiate one, she will have to take him to the CSA where they may order him to pay up to 20% of his net income as child support. This won't affect her benefits and is paid on top of it.

Get her to download the MSE budget planner and work through the site to see how she can slash all of her living costs by identifying all the cheapest tariffs, etc.

Not sure why the 13 year old is considered too young to look after the other - is there some kind of law about this? I'm just not really aware of the rules around child supervision and age thresholds. Will the father not look after them while she works?

paddedjohn

Leaving a 13 year old to babysit is a bit different than leaving them in charge while going on a night shift.

busymumy

Thanks so much for your help. I will get her to contact tax credits and the council about council tax support.

Im not sure about the father of the children paying child support she hasnt mentioned it but I will ask her if she is getting what she is entitled to.

Thanks again.

uganda

busymumy wrote: »

Thanks so much for your help. I will get her to contact tax credits and the council about council tax support.

Im not sure about the father of the children paying child support she hasnt mentioned it but I will ask her if she is getting what she is entitled to.

Thanks again.

Also, any maintenance he pays her, whether through the CSA or otherwise, is disregarded in her council tax support calculation.