Child Maintenance

ceejay1997

Hi everyone, to give you a bit of back story I split with my ex in January 2020. The house we were renting together is £450 a month and with me being 22, and my ex being 23 we needed a guarantor so my parents opted to help out however the year contract on the tenancy ends in December 2020. My ex gets the full £450 a month in housing benefits + additional benefits for working a part time job as she is a mother. Every month she transfers me £250 and I put the additional £200 (child maintenance) towards the rent and it comes out of my account monthly. I have now been unemployed for 2 months and I’m not due to start my next apprenticeship (Will also pay £18,000 per annum) until September 7th so won’t expect my pay from them until the end of September, however I have still had money for my £200 a month towards the rent. However my ex is now only transferring me £200 and I am having to put £250 a month into the rent which I think is too much because I look after my daughter 1-2 nights a week. However I feel as though I have no leg to stand on because if I don’t make the extra amount then the landlord will chase my parents for the money as they are guarantor until December 2020. Does anyone have any advice on different routes I can take? I’ve tried being diplomatic with my ex and explaining to her my circumstances but she won’t budge. Is there anything I can do or am I screwed until December when my parents are no longer guarantor? 

Even if no one has any advice I feel as though typing out this message was good to vent because I am becoming increasingly stressed.

Kind Regards 

SweetPotatoPie

Does your ex claim 450 for housing benefit per month but only give you 200? I’d be having a word and informing her that what she is doing is benefit fraud. I may have read that wrong though, where is she living? 

ceejay1997

SweetPotatoPie said:

Does your ex claim 450 for housing benefit per month but only give you 200? I’d be having a word and informing her that what she is doing is benefit fraud. I may have read that wrong though, where is she living? 

She is living in the house we originally started renting together that my parents are guarantor for. I usually put 200 towards the rent for child maintenance but she has now upped it to 250 so she only contributes 200 towards the rent. I’m back living at my parents house. And yes she gets the full £450 in housing benefits. Hope this helps.

poppy12345

I'm assuming that the rent is paid from your bank account? If so and you're not still together then why is the rent being paid from your bank account? It shouldn't be, it should be paid by her.

She claims help for the full amount of rent so why can't she pay he rent from that for 1 month? I'm confused by your post.

If you don't agree to the amount she's asking for then you need to get CMS involved and they will calculate the mainrtenance payments. https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/family/children-and-young-people/child-maintenance/child-maintenance-where-to-start/

SweetPotatoPie

I agree with the above - yes you should be paying for your child but if you are unemployed then she needs to be realistic and understand that you can’t afford 200-250. 

Use the calculator to work out how much you should be paying. 

Once you are working again then the amount should be in line with what the calculator says that you should be paying. 

Comms69

It's not benefit fraud. 

OP you're unemployed, your rate is £7 per week. So pay that and tell her that is all that is due at the moment. Obviously once you're working ensure you pay accordingly.

SweetPotatoPie

Comms69 said:

It's not benefit fraud. 

OP you're unemployed, your rate is £7 per week. So pay that and tell her that is all that is due at the moment. Obviously once you're working ensure you pay accordingly.

I did say that I may have read it wrong - I thought he was paying the rent when she received housing benefit. I didn’t realise he was paying maintenance. 

Comms69

SweetPotatoPie said:

Comms69 said:

It's not benefit fraud. 

OP you're unemployed, your rate is £7 per week. So pay that and tell her that is all that is due at the moment. Obviously once you're working ensure you pay accordingly.

I did say that I may have read it wrong - I thought he was paying the rent when she received housing benefit. I didn’t realise he was paying maintenance. 

Even that would not necessarily be benefit fraud, OP is allowed to receive gifts. But it would be a more more scrutinised as a regular payment. 

sheramber

EX claims the housing benefit but instead of paying rent over and OP paying her £200 child maintenance , she paid £250 of rent and he pays £200.
the payment coms out of OPs bank account.
While OP can pay less rent as his parents are guarantors for the rent  the LL would go to his parents for the balance of the rent payment.
OP doesn't want that to happen so pays the extra himself.