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Hi,
My wife walked out leaving me wit my 3 boys all still in education 18, 15, & 13 at the moment my wife gets the child tax credits as she was only working 16hrs/ wk earning £10000/yr she has gone full time and earning 18k/yr.
I my self only work 18hrs/wk and earn £8,000/yr I am now 60.
can I claim the child tax credits, and what else would I be entitled to and how do I go about it, also if in the unlikely event she decided to come back would it be more beneficial to the family if I claimed the credits.
what else should I be doing ( the house is in joint names and still has a mortgage on it which I have always paid along with all house hold bills)
Looking forward to hearing from someone.
Paul Baker
Hi Paul
Yes you should be claiming the Child Benefit and also working families tax credits...and while you're at it I would also open a case with the CSA, now called the CMS , for maintenance. You may also be entitled to help with council tax and you would contact your local council to enquire about that. I would do this immediately!
Call the Child Benefit Office up and inform them of the changes and tell them you wish to claim for all three children. You will also need to contact the DWP about working family tax credits and Child Maintenance Options to open a claim for maintenance.
As far as your mortgage is concerned, the mortgage provider will not be concerned about the change as long as the mortgage is being paid. If you were to divorce then I'm pretty sure, as the parent with care, you would be entitled to stay in the property until the youngest is 18 and you may be entitled to a larger percentage of the equity should you decide to sell. I would advise that you get some legal advice about your situation in this regard though, some solicitors offer a free initial consultation which might be helpful.
Good luck
Hi Paul,
As NJ has said there are a lot of benefits that you are entitled to (including putting in a Child Maintenance Claim). You can check out exactly what benefits you are entitled to here on the Turn2Us Benefits calculator.
How long ago did your wife walk out? How are you doing?
Keep talking
Gooner
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