Single WTC claim - is it worth it?

busy_mummy21

Just wanting a little advice really, I know in my head what I should do but when I look at the whole picture I am not sure it will be worth the hassle overall. Anyway - hubby of 20 years has left me and 3 kids. We live in a mortgage house in his name only, he has a whole new set up in his new life and is happy for me to continue living in the house and the agreement is, only verbal, that I pay £400, 2 thirds of the mortgage and he buys kids stuff when they need it. We have a joint claim for WTC as he was out of work and I had a low income, however in the last few weeks he has got a well paid job and left and I have got a full time job with a decent income of £20k. So, if I continue with a joint claim hoping that this is a mid life crisis and he will return from his job and new life the other end of the country we (I) get nothing. If I phone WTC and confess he has left I may get some money to help with childcare, however all his things are here apart from most of clothes and personal items, its his house and he will be visiting every other weekend and if he decides he wants to stop over there is not a lot I can do about it (although of course he would be in a different bedroom but we lived in separate rooms anyway for last 6 months). We get on ok and he is not sherking any responsibilities but is holding all the cards. I don't want to move out, the kids are settled, its a lovely house and its perfect in location to schools etc and I would never find another house like this for £400 per month. However I cant afford to work full time and pay £900pm childcare (he was going to be a house husband so there was no issue seen when I took on a full time job) but if I leave work/go part-time I then cant afford to pay £400 per month for the house! Cant see the wood for the trees at the moment - should I make a single claim and hope that he will eventually let me have this as 'my house' and move this things out/let me change the bills into my name? He is not claiming anything and has a new address, will confirm he has moved out but wont give me a tenancy agreement as he wants access to HIS house as and when it is suitable to him. confused.com!

Floxxie

Sorry you find yourself in this position. The first thing you need to do is to protect yourself. I assume that you have not protected your interest in the house as you mention the mortgage being in his name only? You need to sort this asap.

Although you are hoping he comes back, you need to understand your position from a divorce aspect.

For both of the above, I suggest you post your situation on Wikivorce: there is also a phone number for advice.

Your husband has to pay maintenance for the three children - he may pay the mortgage in lieu of you receiving the maintenance or he may pay separately and you pay the mortgage. If you check the child maintenance site, this will give you an indication of what he should be paying for three children.

You must inform Tax Credits of your position as a single parent to three children and also inform the Council so that you can claim single occupancy.

Please don't panic and agree to terms that put you in a difficult situation. Definitely post on Wikivorce and the experienced posters will point you in the right direction.

Good luck!

busy_mummy21

Thank you Floxxie. having re-read my post I see I haven't made myself clear. We are not actually married and I am quite happy with the current arrangements and not at all ready for dealing with protecting myself just yet. A lot has happened in the last 6 weeks and what I do know is that we both have a lot to sort out and he will be amiable with it, but in simple terms the only way I can keep it together is to stay in this house and keep life as normal for the kids as possible until we all get our heads round it to look at the longer term. Then formalities can begin.
However in the meantime my actual concern is is it worth claiming WTC's as he hasn't moved all his stuff out yet - and probably wont until he has a property of his own and if he stops here on the odd occasion I dont know if I can be bothered trying to prove he doesnt actually live here. We have been together for 20 years and basically everything is joint and I am not going to look like a single person for a while yet? I will have to tell them he has moved out but I am just not prepared to be cross questioned on why bills are still in his name, the garage is full of his stuff, he still has his mail sent here etc etc. Should I wait until we have actually done all this stuff and either he agrees to the fact he can't stop here when he sees the kids (he seriously doesnt see why he cant when its his house and as I dont actually hate him it really doesn't bother me just yet as its good for the kids)
Thanks for the heads up on Council tax, I didnt know that

FBaby

Does this mean that you are currently claiming jointly? If so, have you informed them of your changes in salary? Because if you haven't, you will incur a large overpayment.

The reality is that for the time being, he has left and you are a single parent, so you SHOULD be contacting them to let them know. If you ignore informing them, you are again risking a potential overpayment.

I can imagine that this is not your prioirity emotionally, but not doing so could leave you with much more stress trying to fight an overpayment that you might think you shouldn't pay but will be left with no choice but to do so because you didn't notify them of your change in circumstances. A quick phone call and it is something less to worry about.

Caz3121

There is some guidance here on when to make a single claim
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/taxcredits/start/claiming/get-started/joint-single-claim.htm

Make a joint claim - unless one of the following applies, in which case make a single claim:
you are separated under a court order
you are separated and this is likely to be permanent

You mention that he has a lot of his stuff at the house, bills still in his name job at the other end of the country and will be coming back every fortnight so I would suggest you start getting bills etc into your name only, formalise child maintenance and look at the legal separation route to avoid being confused as a couple where one person works away from home

Floxxie

You can still protect your interest on the property even if you are not married - head over to Wikivorce as there is a board on the forum that deals with unmarried couples.

And yes take the advice of the others - claim as a single parent and take control of the situation