Child turning 18 - c£800 a month lost

Jaclynsurrey

Hello

I guess i am looking for advance advice/help! My daughter will be 18 next March (2019) and is currently in full time education, when she turns 18 I will loose a substantial amount of money a month as follows:

£396 per month Child maintenance
£75 per week Working/Child Tax Credits
£82 per 4 weeks Child Benefit
plus i will lose my 25% Council Tax relief which will cost me an extra £23 a month

so all in all £826 a month down!

I take home £1200 a month from my job and this will be what I have to live on. I rent my house, a very modest 2 bedroom, no garden, terraced house for £595 a month so after rent and council tax I am left with about £500 for all other bills and to live on. I cant move as my daughter will still be living with me and needs a bedroom.

My daughter plans to work and will contribute to the house but obviously she wont be contributing anything near £800.

Any ideas on whether I am entitled to anything or whether my daughter would be entitled to claim anything to help or just how an earth I am mean to survive!!

Thank you in advance

Jac

mr_munchem

Maybe a statement of affairs showing your monthly outgoings would help us to make some more suggestions?

poppy12345

Jaclynsurrey wrote: »

Hello

I guess i am looking for advance advice/help! My daughter will be 18 next March (2019) and is currently in full time education, when she turns 18 I will loose a substantial amount of money a month as follows:

£396 per month Child maintenance
£75 per week Working/Child Tax Credits
£82 per 4 weeks Child Benefit
plus i will lose my 25% Council Tax relief which will cost me an extra £23 a month

so all in all £826 a month down!

I take home £1200 a month from my job and this will be what I have to live on. I rent my house, a very modest 2 bedroom, no garden, terraced house for £595 a month so after rent and council tax I am left with about £500 for all other bills and to live on. I cant move as my daughter will still be living with me and needs a bedroom.

My daughter plans to work and will contribute to the house but obviously she wont be contributing anything near £800.

Any ideas on whether I am entitled to anything or whether my daughter would be entitled to claim anything to help or just how an earth I am mean to survive!!

Thank you in advance

Jac

If your daughter continues in full time approved eduction or training, then all your benefits will continue until her 20th birthday.
https://www.gov.uk/child-tax-credit-when-child-reaches-16

Jaclynsurrey

Unfortunately it only carries on if she stays in college not university, if that's what she decided to do.

But thank you for the information it was useful

elsien

Is the other parent willing to continue to contribute directly to your daughter if she stays in education/goes to university? I know there's no legal obligation, but some parents choose to support their children for longer. That would allow her to pay you more for her keep while she's at home with you.

Darksparkle

How many hours do you work per week? What’s your taxable income for the year?

If she’s going to uni will she have a student loan?

NotSuchASmugMarriedNow

Surely you've been working towards upskilling and retraining so that you can find better paid work? you've still got well over 12 months to do this. - it's not as if its a surprise that children become adults. What were your plans to increase your income when your child reached 18 and all the money ended?

If you daughter is about 18 then you must be 36 at least. £1200 is a minimum wage, entry level job more usually carried out by a youngster? Is there any reason you are still in an entry level job 20 years after you left school.

I don't mean to be harsh but look upon this as a wake up call. Exactly what have you been doing to improve your earning capacity over your adult life?

Cheeky_Monkey

So you're currently receiving about £2k per month and there's only two of you :eek:

Haven't you got any savings? Otherwise, what on earth are you doing with all that money? You've got plenty of time between now and March 2019 to save as much money as you can.

I see no reason why you should continue to be subsidised by the taxpayer. You'll just have to cut your spending and live within your means like everyone else has to.

CurlySue2017

NotSuchASmugMarriedNow wrote: »

Surely you've been working towards upskilling and retraining so that you can find better paid work? you've still got well over 12 months to do this. - it's not as if its a surprise that children become adults. What were your plans to increase your income when your child reached 18 and all the money ended?

If you daughter is about 18 then you must be 36 at least. £1200 is a minimum wage, entry level job more usually carried out by a youngster? Is there any reason you are still in an entry level job 20 years after you left school.

I don't mean to be harsh but look upon this as a wake up call. Exactly what have you been doing to improve your earning capacity over your adult life?

Cheeky_Monkey wrote: »

So you're currently receiving about £2k per month and there's only two of you :eek:

Haven't you got any savings? Otherwise, what on earth are you doing with all that money? You've got plenty of time between now and March 2019 to save as much money as you can.

I see no reason why you should continue to be subsidised by the taxpayer. You'll just have to cut your spending and live within your means like everyone else has to.

I agree with both of these posts.

If you were the Dad instead of the Mum and were struggling financially, people would not be so quick to offer advice.

They would be telling you to up and move to a cheaper area and reduce your bills so that you can afford to live within your means.....whatever that takes.

Look at the child support board for MANY examples of this.

Equality and all that eh!

FBaby

All the £800 you've received so far were to cover costs directly associated with your daughter not you. When she works she'll have to pay her way. If that £800 was used to cover your individual costs then that was wrong and it's right it should come to an end

You'll have to increase your hours, look for a better paid job, charged your DD accordingly. You might still be entitled to tax credits and housing benefits. Most lot you'll have to adjust your lifestyle.

poppy12345

Jaclynsurrey wrote: »

Unfortunately it only carries on if she stays in college not university, if that's what she decided to do.

But thank you for the information it was useful

If she's going to uni then most students have a students loan for this. They're also not in uni 5 days a week, so they can work pat time alongside this. Most students have to do this to boost their money. If she's planning on living at home during uni then she'll have to contribute for her keep.