Pregnancy / Benefits - Advice Please

Sausagedogs · 21 August 2019 at 11:07AM

Hi all,

I'm after some guidance please.

Me & the OH have been together for 20yrs+, we are not married but live together and have a mortgage. Unfortunately, he no longer works and is in receipt of DLA & ESA (Support group). I work full time (40hrs a week / £21k) and have savings put by for retirement (over £16k).

We are hoping to start a family and i wondered where we stand with financial support if and when we have a baby. It's all a bit "what if" at the moment as we are trying to work out what our money situation will be before we take the plunge....

My Employers offers the standard SMP rate 2 weeks full pay, 4 weeks at 90% then following months on SMP Rate.

Any advice much appreciated xx

calcotti · 21 August 2019 at 11:26AM

If you have savings over £16,000 you are excluded from means tested benefits (Universal Credit and Council Tax Reduction). From the way you have phrased your question I suspect you know this. Once your savings drop below £16,000 you will become eligible for UC. Whether or not you are actually entitled to receive anything will depend on your circumstances https://www.entitledto.co.uk/.

The capital limit for CTR will depend on your particular local authority.

Note that if your 'pension savings' were actually in a pension plan they would be ignored as capital.

Rubyroobs · 21 August 2019 at 12:06PM

It's your savings that would prevent you getting any Uc for now. however once they drop below 16k you would get Universal credit if just on smp. You would get couples element, child element and your partner would get LCWRA element and you could get carers element assuming your partner gets at least middle rate DLA care component. You would also get higher work allowance whilst on maternity leave as you would still be treated as working . Your partners ESA ( assumed to be contributions based) would continue to be paid separately and then deducted from UC and DLA is not affected by UC.

TELLIT01 · 21 August 2019 at 1:46PM

As others have said, money 'put by' for any reason but still accessible is still counted when your capital is calculated. You might want to consider putting it into a pension scheme but that would mean it's not accessible if it is required.

calcotti · 21 August 2019 at 2:55PM

TELLIT01 wrote: »

As others have said, money 'put by' for any reason but still accessible is still counted when your capital is calculated. You might want to consider putting it into a pension scheme but that would mean it's not accessible if it is required.

Not sure whether moving some money into a pension plan now could be seen as 'deprivation of capital'.

WhenIam64 · 21 August 2019 at 5:00PM

What about Maternity Pay

https://www.gov.uk/maternity-pay-leave

and a Maternity Grant (not a lot but something

https://www.gov.uk/sure-start-maternity-grant

See also Maternity Allowance if you’re not eligible for Statutory Maternity Pay, though you should be.

Also employer should keep your job open for you in case you decide to return at some point. I believe Amber Rudd (DWP) was off for all of 6 weeks before she returned,

Pregnancy / Benefits - Advice Please

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