Have no idea where to start?!?

Mummy2One

Hi guys
I'm a newbie and hope this is ok.
I'm a Stay at Home Mum and my husband moved out of the marital home at the beginning of the year.
It is now apparent that he will not be moving back and we need to financially separate so that he can look at renting his own home (currently staying for free with a friend).
Until giving up work to have my child, I always earned my own income. Since being a SAHM, my husband paid all bills and gave me an allowance each month to pay the credit card debt and provide for my son and I.
Now I'm totally lost in the land of benefits and what I should be claiming for / How I go about claiming etc.....
I would like to try and stay in the family home if possible and would also like to try and do some ad-hoc virtual work from home rather than going straight back into the world of 9-5 whilst trying to organise my child's life by myself.
How will I go about benefits if I'm self-employed with no set working hours or income?
Any help what so ever will be greatly appreciated as I have been burying my head in the sand and need to make sure I get this all sorted for my son.
Many thanks

HappyMJ

Is the home you live in rented or owned with or without a mortgage?

That generally is your biggest bill. Rent would be mostly if not all paid by housing benefit and if you have a mortgage it's possible to get some help with some of the interest charged on your mortgage. You still have to make the capital repayment yourself.

p00hsticks

You refer several times to "my" child and "my" son - can you just clarify if your husband is the father of your child ?

If he is, have you started to discuss maintenance with him ? And what is his view on you staying in the family home....

Although there may well be a number of benefits available to both you and him, the financial support that he is prepared and able to give to his child is going to be key...

TELLIT01

If the child is under 5 there is Income Support. Child maintenance is completely disregarded.

Mummy2One

My husband is the father of my son. We own (with a mortgage) the family home, although it has just been myself and my son living here since January. He's 2.5 years old.
We haven't yet talked about a set maintenance figure because he's currently still been paying for everything. Once I have an idea of what I can claim in the way of benefits, I'll have a clearer idea of how what to approach him with in terms of maintenance.
Ideally, I'd like to keep the house but realise that without him agreeing to stay on the mortgage, that might not be possible.
Thanks everyone

pmlindyloo

As you have a child under 5 years of age you may be eligible for Income Support. This would give you automatic entitlement to housing costs (paid after 13 weeks - Support for Mortgage Interest) and council tax support.
You can also claim Child Benefit and Child tax credits. Put your details into the benefit calculator on https://www.entitledto.co.uk for a good idea of what you might get.

Have you got any savings as income support is means tested? (you are allowed £6000 but not over £16000.)

If you chose to become self employed you may be able to claim working tax credits instead of Income Support but you would have to be working at least 16 hrs a week and be on a low income to achieve this. You can find more information about self employment and tax credits on google.

As you are aware a lot depends on what happens with the family home. Support for Mortgage Interest only pays the interest on the mortgage - google for more information. You need to talk with your ex and your mortgage lender.

Cheeky_Monkey

Mummy2One wrote: »

My husband is the father of my son. We own (with a mortgage) the family home, although it has just been myself and my son living here since January. He's 2.5 years old.
We haven't yet talked about a set maintenance figure because he's currently still been paying for everything. Once I have an idea of what I can claim in the way of benefits, I'll have a clearer idea of how what to approach him with in terms of maintenance.
Ideally, I'd like to keep the house but realise that without him agreeing to stay on the mortgage, that might not be possible.
Thanks everyone

I don't think he'll have any choice but to stay on the mortgage and he will have to continue paying it as you're not in a position to do so.

If he stops paying the mortgage, your lender is likely to repossess unless you agree to sell it.

TELLIT01

Child maintenance, as mentioned earlier, is disregarded as far as Income Support is concerned. However, any other support your ex-provides may fall under the umbrella of 'spousal maintenance' and that is taken into account against any IS entitlement. Him continuing to pay all or part of the mortgage wouldn't fall into that category.

pmlindyloo

This link might be useful about what you can do about the family home

https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/articles/dividing-the-family-home-and-mortgage-during-divorce-or-dissolution

Witless

Cheeky_Monkey wrote: »

I don't think he'll have any choice but to stay on the mortgage and he will have to continue paying it as you're not in a position to do so.

I'm not sure that's correct: he's obliged to pay Child Support but not a mortgage AFAIK.

HoneyNutLoop

Witless wrote: »

I'm not sure that's correct: he's obliged to pay Child Support but not a mortgage AFAIK.

He's as obliged to pay the mortgage as anyone who is named on a mortgage is. He's entered a contract with the mortgage company. Sure, he can stop paying it, just as anyone with a mortgage can default. But, there will be consequences for him as well as the op. If he wants to buy another home again in the near future, for example, having defaulted on his current mortgage would scupper that plan.