Childcare frequency impact on benefits

AlphaMikeFoxtrot

Hi,

Unfortunately, I find myself in the unenviable position of a messy divorce. We have concluded the financial side of things and the divorce has been finalised, but I am fighting for 50/50 shared care of our two children. We have been through mediation, and the best agreement we could come to, was Sun / Mon / Tue nights with me, with me then dropping them to my ex mid afternoon on the Wednesday. From a practical point of view, I am relatively happy with this - this works out around a 10 hours discrepancy equal care throughout the week, during which time they are asleep anyway, so for all intents and purposes, I get to spend half of the week with them.

However, from a financial standpoint … My ex claimed that they "have" to have them for a minimum of 4 nights per week, in order to maintain their benefits. So by not having them for 2 extra nights every 4 weeks, I am having to pay ~£350 in child maintenance, which I am struggling to afford in the current financial climate. My ex takes home around £500 more than me in benefits every month before CMS is paid, which then becomes nearer a £1200 disparity when you take the CMS into account. For reference, I am full time employed, and claim nothing, not even the child benefit.

So naturally, I am reviewing everything, as right now I am really struggling to get from one month to the next.

My Ex is in receipt of the following:
- UC + Child Element
- PIP
- DLA for one child (Provably fraudulent, but don't get me started, I've reported it a number of times over the last 24 months)
- Carer's allowance for the same child based on DLA outcome
- Child Benefit for both children

So I suppose what I'm asking is - does anyone recognise that any of those have a 4 night per week requirement? I am really struggling to find it written down anywhere, the best I have found is a mention of number of hours per week for Carer's allowance.

I have spoken to solicitor for some advice regarding going to court about 50/50 to get the two extra nights, and they have advised it all comes down to the benefits. For example, if me having the two extra nights leads to a £1k reduction in my ex's benefits for example, a judge won't see that as in the best interests of the children. If it's just £100, then that's different. Given my ex's past behaviour, I wouldn't be surprised if the 4 night claim is just a ruse, but I can't afford to press ahead with any changes on a hunch.

I don't want anything greater than 50/50 custody. I am happy for care to be equal, I'm not going to push harder than is reasonable. I just need find a way of making this work financially whilst keeping this fair.

Any help or advice anyone could offer on clarifying such things would be greatly appreciated!

Yamor

As long as you don't try and make a competing claim, your ex could continue to claim the UC and CB for your children, even if the care was truly 50-50.

But remember that even where care is 50-50, the fact that your ex gets the CB would mean they are presumed to be providing more care for the children than you for child maintenance purposes. You will have to show the court that you do in fact provide as much day to day care as your ex in order not to be liable to pay child maintenance.

sheramber

https://www.gov.uk/how-child-maintenance-is-worked-out

Has the CMS calculation included your shared care?

Diaz09

Are you claiming Child Benefit and Universal Credit for both children currently? The key issue here is that HMRC and DWP will only recognise one parent as the "main carer" for benefits purposes, regardless of your actual care arrangements.

Even with your Wednesday handover giving you effectively 50/50 care, you'll need to decide between yourselves who claims what. This decision can significantly impact your respective Universal Credit payments and Child Benefit entitlements, so worth running the numbers both ways before agreeing.

sheramber

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81955678#Comment_81955678

The OP has said

“For reference, I am full time employed, and claim nothing, not even the child benefit.”

It is possible to claim child benefit for one child each as you share care.

If your ex did not agree Child Benefit Agency would decide

AlphaMikeFoxtrot

Unfortunately, during the financial agreement of the divorce in court, my ex was understandably very protective of all the benefits they received relating to the children, specifically the disability benefit and carers allowance etc. In my haste to get things wrapped up, I agreed to a term in the agreement along the lines of "I will not seek any share of benefits relating to the children". This was initially under the understanding that I would not make any sort of "Well I have them half the time, I want half the carer's allowance" style claim, but in hindsight, I think it's going to make me getting child benefit for one of the children very difficult. If I just apply for it and Child Benefits Agency agree, I could find myself in breach of the agreement.

That was discussed when I had a consultation with a solicitor as mentioned in the original post - it will need at best an application to the court to amend the wording of the agreement I believe. I was waiting to see if things were going to go to court anyway first, and then address that at the same time to try and save some costs, but it's definitely on the radar.

AlphaMikeFoxtrot

Yes, that's the figure after putting me in the 3 nights per week reduction bracket. I think even if I don't get "true" shared care by having one of the child benefit payments, just those two nights per month would reduce it by a further £100, which would make a big difference.