where to get advice

thecrazy1_2

Hi all,


I wonder if I can get your advice. My sister in law has decided to end her marriage to my brother, they have 3 children and a joint mortgage. He is the main earner and currently pays the mortgage and most of the bills as she only works 16 hours a week. She wants him to move out, which he is willing to do. However, he can't pay the mortgage, bills and child maintenance as well as finding somewhere else to live. Can anyone recommend the best place to go and get some advice. CAB etc.


Thanks in advance

Top_Girl

If he is no longer in the relationship, he should only be paying child maintenance, plus half the mortgage if it's in both their names.

Your SIL will have to apply for tax credits and/or work more hours.

stebiz

thecrazy1 wrote: »

Hi all,


I wonder if I can get your advice. My sister in law has decided to end her marriage to my brother, they have 3 children and a joint mortgage. He is the main earner and currently pays the mortgage and most of the bills as she only works 16 hours a week. She wants him to move out, which he is willing to do. However, he can't pay the mortgage, bills and child maintenance as well as finding somewhere else to live. Can anyone recommend the best place to go and get some advice. CAB etc.


Thanks in advance

Oh yippee. Another failed marriage that us tax payers will have to pay for.:mad:

stebiz

Top_Girl wrote: »

If he is no longer in the relationship, he should only be paying child maintenance, plus half the mortgage if it's in both their names.

Your SIL will have to apply for tax credits and/or work more hours.

This will stop your brother getting a mortgage. It will also stop him getting any Universal Credits whilst the house is in his name.

kazwookie

Get SIL to move out and he brings up the kids and lives in the house.

thecrazy1_2

Thanks for your replies. The cheapest way (repayment wise) is for him to get a mortgage. However, I don't think he could raise the deposit as it is all tied up in the house. I agree if she moved out she would get more help, although can't see that happening. Just need to go and get some legal advice as they want to be as amicable as possible. So any suggestion of organizations that can help please

fabforty

stebiz wrote: »

Oh yippee. Another failed marriage that us tax payers will have to pay for.:mad:

The couple concerned are also tax payers, and they are probably not thrilled about their situation either.

stebiz

thecrazy1 wrote: »

Thanks for your replies. The cheapest way (repayment wise) is for him to get a mortgage. However, I don't think he could raise the deposit as it is all tied up in the house. I agree if she moved out she would get more help, although can't see that happening. Just need to go and get some legal advice as they want to be as amicable as possible. So any suggestion of organizations that can help please

There might be organizations who can spell it out better but it won't change anything. He can only ever have one mortgage unless he is on a good salary and it would cover both mortgages.

So if he leaves then he's in rented accommodation for the long term. Not only that he'll get no help when Universal Credit starts as he will have assets.

He needs to think of himself or sell the house and she can move into rented and he can pay maintenance.

stebiz

fabforty wrote: »

The couple concerned are also tax payers, and they are probably not thrilled about their situation either.

She isn't and will claim more from the state than any tax he pays.

thecrazy1_2

Thanks, I think the maintenance for the children is going to be take a lot of his salary, although no different to now. The only problem is where does he live, and it's not fair for him to live in a one bedroom flat for example whilst paying the mortgage on a 4 bedroom house. Is it true he is only responsible for half the mortgage? Surely if she can't pay her half of the mortgage then he would either pay more or risk a bad credit rating.

BigAunty

Shelter has a relationship breakdown section that gives an over of rights and obligations for accommodation.

I am not certain that it's the case that there is an obligation to pay half the mortgage but suggest he sees a solicitor to get an idea of a divorce settlement. I am not an expert in this matter but have seen reported on here (unverified) that the person with care of the children may be able to get an occupation order from the courts to secure their right to live in the property until their youngest turns 18 but not necessarily any obligation of the non-resident parent to contribute to the mortage. Suggest you check this out with experts.

The Direct Gov website should have a link to advice around child support. Currently I believe that a non-resident parent is expected to pay 25% of their net income for 3 children, reduced by the number of nights the children stay over with the NRP, plus there is a child support forum on MSE. There's nothing to stop parents from negotiating their own preferred child maintenance budget.

Chances are that she is due a decent sum of child tax credits and working tax credits if she's in low paid employment, plus a hefty discount on council tax. Suggest he models her income and the lone parent scenario on the Turn2us online benefits calculator and he may find out her disposable income (benefits and employment) will be over £300 a week, possibly over £400. The child support he pays will be on top of this and won't reduce her benefits, so its possible her income will be £500 a week or more depending on his contribution and other factors.

If she consents to moving out, she can claim Housing Benefit elsewhere so long as the family home is up for sale. Ask on the Benefits forum for more information. However, sums of capital over 6k start to reduce means tested benefits like council tax and housing benefit while 16k rules them out so she might not be happy to start paying rent with her share of the equity from the house sale.