Advice Please, tax credits with continued joint mortgage.

Jamie_st200

Me and my partner of 6 years have separated, i have left her with the house as she has our son. I’m currently paying half towards all bills.



If i was to transfer all of the utility bills into her name could she claim working and child tax credits?



The only joint financial commitment we would have would be the mortgage to which i have agreed to continue to pay half.



Would it be a case of her just stating that her mortgage outgoing would actually only be half of the actual amount?



Any help would be gratefully appreciated.


Jamie.

BigAunty

You are better off asking this question on the benefits forum. What do you mean by "Would it be a case of her just stating that her mortgage outgoing would actually only be half of the actual amount?" To whom would you be declaring this to and why?

AFAIK, its best for you to remove all associations with the property in order to make clear to the benefits authority that you no longer live there (of course, it should be easy for you to prove you live elsewhere anyway in case they did flag it up) but some non-resident exes forget to do things like update their driving licence, doctor, car insurance/tax and so forth and this can cause issues.

The mortgage is irrevant to the benefits you outline, so too is the child support you pay - it is added to benefits and doesn't influence them.

In fact, if you have a joint mortgage, you are jointly and severally liable for it. You may agree at a personal level around how to divvy up the sum but lenders do not recognise this relationship.

A mortgage on an owner occupied home is not relevant to means tested/income related benefits (the only time it is taken into account is when someone applies for Support for Mortgage Interest, the scheme for home owners on certain types of benefits to stop them from getting repossessed).