Child Maintenance / housing

tommytynan123

I'm struggling in unfamiliar territory and would be grateful for a little help or a steer. Son and partner with 16 month old child are splitting. Not sure why I'm getting so stressed and sad about it but I am. (59 year old Dad lol)

They live in a privately rented house and use his earnings topped up by tax credits, child benefit and me. Partner is (was) homemaker and is a lovely person. (not that that is part of the equation)
I'm happy going through the calculations with regard to the child maintenance but its the bigger picture that I'm struggling with.
What part does son play regarding housing for partner and child.
If she ends up staying in the rented house (which she wants to) does he have to contribute to the rent or is that part of the child maintenance.
Or is that a housing benefit matter if they can't re-house her and child. (She is waiting for a call back from housing after telling them she could be homeless in the near future)
Could the housing people tell her to stay where she is and they will help financially.
He is planning to move out either way and stay with us/friend.

DUTR

On the new scheme he will have to contribute 12% of his gross income, if he wants to and can afford to contribute more then that is up to him,he does not have to assist with the rent.

Poppie68

Her local authority won't do anything until she is actually homeless and then she will likely end up in a B&B she maybe better off staying put in the property she is in but she will need to check her local authority website for housing allowances.

Sorry meant to add, if she was to make herself intentionally homeless they will be reluctant to help her.

NotSuchASmugMarriedNow

What DUTR said.

HoneyNutLoop

As a single parent with a child under 5, the now ex-partner will likely be entitled to Income Support, Child Tax Credits, Child Benefit, Housing Benefit and Council tax support. The Income Support would also passport her to other frtinge benefits, like free prescriptions, etc.

Using the TurntoUs calculator, she may be entitled to £72.40 Income Support, £63.44 Child Tax Credits, £20.50 Child Benefit, and up to the 2 bed LHA rate for her Local Authority.
http://www.turn2us.org.uk/benefits_search.aspx

I attach a link from VOA which shows the LHA rate for various Local Authorities.
http://www.voa.gov.uk/corporate/RentOfficers/lharates/april2013lha.html

Council tax support varies by Local Authority too, so you would need to check her council's website for that info.

Using Birmingham as a model, she would be entitled to up to £117.82 a week housing benefit and £9.94 a week council tax support.

She would also get 12% of your son's £21,000 income (obtained info from your other thread) of approx £48 a week (if no reductions are appropriate)

So, using the Birmingham example (assuming no disabilities) she would potentially have a weekly income of approx £332.

Taking this info into account, is it possible she can afford to stay where she is and not face homelessness?

Csa_Survivor

HoneyNutLoop wrote: »

As a single parent with a child under 5, the now ex-partner will likely be entitled to Income Support, Child Tax Credits, Child Benefit, Housing Benefit and Council tax support. The Income Support would also passport her to other frtinge benefits, like free prescriptions, etc.

Using the TurntoUs calculator, she may be entitled to £72.40 Income Support, £63.44 Child Tax Credits, £20.50 Child Benefit, and up to the 2 bed LHA rate for her Local Authority.
http://www.turn2us.org.uk/benefits_search.aspx

I attach a link from VOA which shows the LHA rate for various Local Authorities.
http://www.voa.gov.uk/corporate/RentOfficers/lharates/april2013lha.html

Council tax support varies by Local Authority too, so you would need to check her council's website for that info.

Using Birmingham as a model, she would be entitled to up to £117.82 a week housing benefit and £9.94 a week council tax support.

She would also get 12% of your son's £21,000 income (obtained info from your other thread) of approx £48 a week (if no reductions are appropriate)

So, using the Birmingham example (assuming no disabilities) she would potentially have a weekly income of approx £332.

Taking this info into account, is it possible she can afford to stay where she is and not face homelessness?

Blimey, talk about rubbing it in ! , if ever there was an argument to not pay a single penny more than ones assessed contribution this is definitely it. As a bloke your son will be entitled to nothing other than a single occupancy discount on his council tax if he lives alone, fact, please correct me anyone if this is not correct! Not being funny now but your son needs to keep every single spare penny after he has paid his maintenance just in case things turn sour and he needs to go to court for access etc... Think of it like this, if he contributes more than he needs to now, should his circumstances change further down the line his ex will be used to the extra money then guess what happens when he says he has to reduce his payments to the assessed amount, yes, you got it, she gets nasty and he ends up going to court anyway!

rozmister

Csa_Survivor wrote: »

Blimey, talk about rubbing it in ! , if ever there was an argument to not pay a single penny more than ones assessed contribution this is definitely it. As a bloke your son will be entitled to nothing other than a single occupancy discount on his council tax if he lives alone, fact, please correct me anyone if this is not correct! Not being funny now but your son needs to keep every single spare penny after he has paid his maintenance just in case things turn sour and he needs to go to court for access etc... Think of it like this, if he contributes more than he needs to now, should his circumstances change further down the line his ex will be used to the extra money then guess what happens when he says he has to reduce his payments to the assessed amount, yes, you got it, she gets nasty and he ends up going to court anyway!

The fact the state will support your child is the argument for you not contributing anymore than you're obliged?!?! What a rubbish way to look at life - 'oh well as long as someone else will foot the bill for my child's upbringing I won't contribute anymore than I have to'.

Csa_Survivor

rozmister wrote: »

The fact the state will support your child is the argument for you not contributing anymore than you're obliged?!?! What a rubbish way to look at life - 'oh well as long as someone else will foot the bill for my child's upbringing I won't contribute anymore than I have to'.

Maybe it is a rubbish way to look at life, however, the poor guy is setting himself up for extreme hardship and heartache potentially by going down the "lets pay more than I am asked for so I look like a good guy" route.
Breakups are messy, horrible things but as you can see the ex will be more than catered for with up to half a dozen benefits plus maintenance to keep her going , so yes, why should he pay any more?
Lets be honest here, assuming he gets proper access then the child will benefit from extra treats, Birthdays,Christmas etc anyway wont it. When I said that he would be wise not to give a penny more than his maintenance I purely meant by handing extra over to the mother, because that is asking for trouble down the line if his circumstances change, because whatever the reasons she wont like it, potentially leaving himself open to being mucked about with access.
For the guys own good I truly recommend paying the correct official amount of maintenance and saves any extra to go towards days and trips out with the child and hopefully not paying towards the parasites in family law.

System

Here effective gross income is greater than her partner's

Csa_Survivor

rozmister wrote: »

'oh well as long as someone else will foot the bill for my child's upbringing I won't contribute anymore than I have to'.

I don't understand where you are coming from with this comment? It would not matter if the guy gave his ex an extra hundred quid a week because she would still receive all those half a dozen benefits from the state regardless so that argument does not hold up does it!
Plus, may I add, who do you think pays towards those half a dozen benefits the lads ex will receive?, yeah that's right, myself and every other mug that works and pays taxes but I don't hear an argument on my behalf do I!
I stand by my comments, the guy would in effect be paying three lots of money, his assessment figure, the extra he chooses to give, then finally getting robbed through his taxes for all those benefits that single parents with care get!

clearingout

Csa_Survivor wrote: »

As a bloke your son will be entitled to nothing other than a single occupancy discount on his council tax if he lives alone, fact, please correct me anyone if this is not correct!

It is not correct. Depending on his income, he may well be entitled to help with rent through Housing Benefit, additional support with his Council Tax and Working Tax Credit.