How reliable is the 'entitled to' website and when can you apply for UC etc?

TooMuchWine

I am sadly in the process of separating from my husband who has a long term illness. We own a home with a mortgage and have quite a bit of equity, but not enough to buy two new places. Also, due to his illness he is reluctant to move and would like to stay in the house. Therefore the plan is for me move to a rental and continue to pay half the mortgage. We have two children who would split their time between us, ideally 50/50 if his health allows this.

I have checked on entitled to website and it says that without my income he could get around £1600 in benefits to supplement his income,  including CB and UC, nothing towards housing costs. He works 16 hours per week. How likely is it that this is correct? 
And at what stage could he apply for this, does he have to wait until I have physically moved out?
Thank you.

peteuk

UC does not pay any housing costs to those who have a mortgage, if he needs assistance then you would need to claim Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) if he is eligible.  

Has he looked at PIP - as you've mentioned a longterm illness, 

He can also apply for a council tax discount as will be living as a single adult in a house. 

He can apply for UC if it is obvious you've split and are living separate lives (even if you’re still living together) eg single bank accounts, separate bedrooms, separate shopping etc. 

elsien

You also need to consider that if you need to claim means tested benefits in the future, in the event of illness or redundancy, your share of a house you are not living in would probably rule you out of these. 

TooMuchWine

Thank you both for the responses. I have never claimed any benefits so completely new to all this.

He claims he is not eligible to anything but based on entitledto and other sources this is not the case. Luckily out mortgage is not very large and at least for now, I should be able to pay rent and half the mortgage. His income alone wouldn't be enough for him to live on but with some UC he should manage, especially if I continue to pay for most of the kids' expenses.

It's very helpful to know that he could apply for UC before I physically move out. 

Spoonie_Turtle

elsien said:

You also need to consider that if you need to claim means tested benefits in the future, in the event of illness or redundancy, your share of a house you are not living in would probably rule you out of these. 

If they do manage 50/50 custody would the ex-husband count as a lone parent?  If so the OP's share of the house could be disregarded.

(I genuinely don't know what UC class as a lone parent though.)

TooMuchWine

I have no idea how it all works. Will also have to see if the 50/50 works out, I have no intention to keep the children from seeing him but he is rather poorly and tires easily, so not sure if he will actually want them 50% of the time. Also, the eldest is a teenager so can have a say as well.

elsien

Spoonie_Turtle said:

elsien said:

You also need to consider that if you need to claim means tested benefits in the future, in the event of illness or redundancy, your share of a house you are not living in would probably rule you out of these. 

If they do manage 50/50 custody would the ex-husband count as a lone parent?  If so the OP's share of the house could be disregarded.

(I genuinely don't know what UC class as a lone parent though.)

That may depend on who is claiming child benefit for them - only a guess though.