temporary residency and benefits

happymummy

I've had to grant my parents temporary residency of my 3 kids due to domestic abuse and social work problems I dont know how long its going to be for but I want to get them home asap. (ex is now in custody and likely to be for some time)
Anyway, the solicitor dealing with it said it would be ok for me to keep claiming child benefit and ctc for them and just to pass it over to my mum but my sister says this would be fraud, does anyone know where we stand on this? There's no way I can survive on JSA and at the moment I cant get a job as I have a huge black eye which I'm guessing is going to be there for a few weeks yet.

lil_me

Contact them, ask what is the right thing to do. If you would be handing the payments over, you'd be surviving on JSA alone regardless. It usually depends on how long the children will be staying and how it's been done to how it effects benefits, if residency has been given then usually you are no longer legally allowed to claim anything for them (CB or CTC)

Oldernotwiser

I agree with lil_me, surely your financial situation will be exactly the same whether your mother claims the child related benefits or whether you claim them and pass them over to her? How can it be any different? Your sister is right; let them know and don't risk committing benefit fraud.

[Deleted User]

If it is only a short term arrangement (a few weeks rather than months) and your parents are happy with this I wouldnt see it as a problem.

For Tax Credits (probably the same with CB) this is a bit of a grey area so you will probably not get a very clear answer if you called up.

The advice I would give to someone who called is to continue to claim yourself as this would be ok if you were in hospital with an illness for a while or if the kids were staying with their grandparents during holidays. There is not much of a difference unless it is a long term arrangement.

If there is ever going to be some sort of query in the future you would be best to have an audit trail - proof you have been handing over the money.
Pay it directly in to their bank account and keep receipts.

If your parents want to claim CB or CTC in their own right then you MUST end your claims for both and allow your parents to do so.

Elle00

happymummy wrote: »

I've had to grant my parents temporary residency of my 3 kids due to domestic abuse and social work problems I dont know how long its going to be for but I want to get them home asap. (ex is now in custody and likely to be for some time)
Anyway, the solicitor dealing with it said it would be ok for me to keep claiming child benefit and ctc for them and just to pass it over to my mum but my sister says this would be fraud, does anyone know where we stand on this? There's no way I can survive on JSA and at the moment I cant get a job as I have a huge black eye which I'm guessing is going to be there for a few weeks yet.

I'm confident that it's okay as you've granted them temporary residency, it's not meant to be a long-term arrangement.

In your situation, I would ignore my sister, I wouldn't go phoning the agencies (if they misunderstand the situation they may misadvise you causing more problems in the long run) and I would be satisfied that my solicitor is the right person to take legal advice from.

Due to your circumstances, have you considered seeing your GP and signing off from work on health grounds for a few months while this situation is resolved? You're probably not in any fit state to work mentally right now let alone physically if you have an injury so it would be silly to claim JSA (same amount as sickness IS) and go looking for work you're not likely to cope very well with. Any GP worth their salt will sign you off for a month at least.

Best of luck getting the situation sorted as soon as possible.