Daughter & her boyfriend moving into their first home together - benefit help & advice needed please

JReacher1

MalMonroe said:

silvercar said:

At the moment the girlfriend is being supported by the child benefit and CTC that are paid to the mother. If she moves in with her boyfriend she will be supported by him receiving child benefit and possible CTC. There is no difference in the amount of state support that is being paid out for the daughter/ girlfriend, in fact it may be less if she were to move out of the family home.
The boyfriend we can assume lives off student loan/ grants and possibly a part time job, this is no different to many many other students.
 

What nonsense. You obviously don't know the benefits system in this country. Child benefits end when you're 16, unless you're in approved training. But if you are in approved training you're not allowed to earn anything. This girl is earning AND still claiming benefits, which is fraud. Her mother needs to contact the benefits office ASAP and may even have to repay some benefits. It's not actually the girl's money anyway, it's her parents so they can keep her. But they're not entitled any more.

Good rant but you’re completely wrong. 

Child benefit does not stop at 16 it stops at 20 if you are in approved education or training which the OP’s daughter appears to be in. 

It’s also ridiculous to say that you can’t earn while claiming child benefit. It seems you don’t really understand what child benefit is 😀

LittleVoice

JReacher1 said:

MalMonroe said:

silvercar said:

At the moment the girlfriend is being supported by the child benefit and CTC that are paid to the mother. If she moves in with her boyfriend she will be supported by him receiving child benefit and possible CTC. There is no difference in the amount of state support that is being paid out for the daughter/ girlfriend, in fact it may be less if she were to move out of the family home.
The boyfriend we can assume lives off student loan/ grants and possibly a part time job, this is no different to many many other students.
 

What nonsense. You obviously don't know the benefits system in this country. Child benefits end when you're 16, unless you're in approved training. But if you are in approved training you're not allowed to earn anything. This girl is earning AND still claiming benefits, which is fraud. Her mother needs to contact the benefits office ASAP and may even have to repay some benefits. It's not actually the girl's money anyway, it's her parents so they can keep her. But they're not entitled any more.

Good rant but you’re completely wrong. 

Child benefit does not stop at 16 it stops at 20 if you are in approved education or training which the OP’s daughter appears to be in. 

It’s also ridiculous to say that you can’t earn while claiming child benefit. It seems you don’t really understand what child benefit is 😀

It is the "child" who is being described as "earning" not the parent or other adult who is receiving the benefit.

[I have no idea whether the £30 or £50 which is received by the young lady in training prevents child benefit being paid, that's not an area of expertise I have.]

Brynsam

It's a strange old world when adults with financial responsibilities such as young children and mortgages are on furlough/struggling with wage cuts, and a couple of kids expect the taxpayer to fund love's young dream....

warby68

Is it really possible to claim child related benefits for your girlfriend? That seems very odd to me. Doesn't living together as adults mean you are treated as a couple not adult plus dependant?
I don't know whether OP wants general advice or just benefits advice, but am sorely tempted to offer parental advice on this one. Best keep my trap shut and move along.

kingfisherblue

Ok, so as a parent of three young adults, I've been through this situation already. When my daughter and her partner met, he was still at university. He worked weekends, and my daughter worked shifts. They wanted to move in together, but knew that they couldn't afford it. Instead, they saved like crazy. When her partner finished uni and started a full time job, he kept his weekend job for another year, so that they could save more. Three years after meeting, they put down a deposit on their first house. They have been there for six years now, have two children, and have modernised the house to a high standard. They have overpaid their mortgage whenever possible, and are now selling to buy a larger house. They both still work, although my daughter went part time after the children were born.

My younger son would love to move in with his girlfriend. He has a good job, but she is looking for work. He understands that living at home is much cheaper than renting elsewhere - he doesn't have enough for a deposit to buy yet. They are also aware that his girlfriend needs to find work if she is to contribute. Having had a chat about this a couple of weeks ago, he's anticipating living at home for another three years yet. His driving lessons have stopped during Covid, and they are three bus rides away from each other, in different towns. They manage.

I don't think that the couple in the OP are mature enough to live together yet. They can't afford their rent, so how will they manage the other bills? Rent is a priority bill, and although I appreciate that many people have to rely on benefits (I'm in that group, as a carer), they shouldn't start their lives together looking at which benefits they can claim. They are young, and have plenty of time to get jobs before moving in with each other. If, once they are both earning, they still need help from housing benefit, then fair enough. Until then, the girl should stay with her mum until she has finished her training and obtained employment.

It would be interesting to know whether the girl is saving any of her £30 a week towards moving in with her boyfriend. I somehow don't think it is likely.

Neil49

Sit down with a blank sheet of paper in front of you and write down all the day to day costs that they are going to have to cope with, and I mean everything. Do they really realise just how much everything costs? 

Spending money is easy, anyone can do that particularly if it isn't yours. It's paying it back that is difficult. 

steampowered

It's best for the young lady and her boyfriend to start by focussing on getting a proper job, as soon as they finish study/training.

THEN they can move in together on a sustainable long term footing. 

Tealblue

Help_Seeker_20 said:

Hi. All,

Appologies in advance for the length of this post.

My 18 year old daughter currently lives at home with me (I receive Child Benefit and Child Tax Credit for her) - she is on a local council traing scheme and receives £30 a week from that sceme.  She has to do a second part of that course too (money should raise to £50 per week whilst she is on her training scheme).

My daughter's boyfriend is a University Student and receives a Uni Grant.  They have been steady for quite some time and are going to move in to and start their new life together.  My daughter wants to continue training and wants to start work after it, she is not interested in staying on benefits. 

So it is me asking this... could anyone tell me what benefit she would be entitled to claim whilst she lives with her boyfriend please?  And how to apply for it during this Covid-19 epidemic?   Would she be entitled to help with the cost of Rent and Council Tax too please?  (They will be private renting).

Thank you in advance for your replies, help and advice. 

Perhaps instead of trying to sort out what benefits your daughter might or might not be 'entitled' to, perhaps a better parental example would be to encourage this teenager and her boyfriend to recognise that the taxpayer isn't there to fund the lifestyle of youngsters who think setting up home would be fun (understandable!), but they need to wait until they are in a position to fund their own choices?

Marcon

Tealblue said:

Help_Seeker_20 said:

Hi. All,

Appologies in advance for the length of this post.

My 18 year old daughter currently lives at home with me (I receive Child Benefit and Child Tax Credit for her) - she is on a local council traing scheme and receives £30 a week from that sceme.  She has to do a second part of that course too (money should raise to £50 per week whilst she is on her training scheme).

My daughter's boyfriend is a University Student and receives a Uni Grant.  They have been steady for quite some time and are going to move in to and start their new life together.  My daughter wants to continue training and wants to start work after it, she is not interested in staying on benefits. 

So it is me asking this... could anyone tell me what benefit she would be entitled to claim whilst she lives with her boyfriend please?  And how to apply for it during this Covid-19 epidemic?   Would she be entitled to help with the cost of Rent and Council Tax too please?  (They will be private renting).

Thank you in advance for your replies, help and advice. 

Perhaps instead of trying to sort out what benefits your daughter might or might not be 'entitled' to, perhaps a better parental example would be to encourage this teenager and her boyfriend to recognise that the taxpayer isn't there to fund the lifestyle of youngsters who think setting up home would be fun (understandable!), but they need to wait until they are in a position to fund their own choices?

If your daughter isn't old enough to sort out this sort of information herself, she probably isn't ready to pretend to be living an adult life with the boyfriend.

Savvy_Sue

To those adamant that mum is committing benefit fraud because she is still claiming CB and DD is earning money, I looked up https://www.gov.uk/child-benefit/eligibility:

If your child starts work or gets benefits in their own right

You’ll stop receiving Child Benefit immediately if your child:

• starts paid work for 24 hours or more a week and is no longer in approved education or training

• starts an apprenticeship in England
• starts getting certain benefits in their own right, such as Income Support, Employment and Support Allowance or tax credits

OP said that daughter is on a council training scheme. If that's approved education or training, and DD is working less than 24 hours pw, all is well.