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Hi Everyone.
Forgive me if this has already been covered but i'm new to this site.
My question is this: my wife and I split and divorced about five years ago and our son went to live with her and she claims all benefits for him Tax credits, disability allowance and child benefit.
Recently my son has come to live with me and my new partner as she can't cope with his behaviour and he is thriving with us (a different story) now I am still paying my ex wife CSA but she is giving me the CSA and Apparently his disability allowance direct to me but not the tax credits. She has said that she spoke to DWP and they said that if she has our son for 35 hours a week she still has parental responsibility and does not have to give me any of the tax credits or change the benefits over to me. even though she doesn't have any contact with our son at the moment. I have asked her why she thinks she should get our sons tax credits even though he is living with me and she got defensive and just kept saying she provides for him with the payments she pays me each week.
Sorry for the long story but I like to get things straight and also not keen on being deceptive to government agencies and I'm not the kind of person to just drop people right in the proverbial even though she did with me by reporting me to the CSA even though I wanted to pay for my son straight from when we split but kept refusing.
Any information or advice would be grateful
Cheers Wayne
No idea where she gets the 35 hours a week. If your son is living with you (and you need evidence - school records, GP etc) then speak to the CSA to see about getting the case closed. Then you can open a new case with the CMS and claim against your ex - she will get nothing at all, and you'll get the lot (including CB), and she will have to pay you maintenance, not just pay you back what you are wrongly paying her.
Absolutely, start gathering evidence to apply for Child Benefit, Tax Credits etc and also let the CSA know your child now lives with you. If he is living with you then she is no longer entitled to claim anything at all for him. As far as the DWP / DLA claim goes, this benefit is for your son and you would be his appointee, not the claimant.
It might be worth speaking with a local Welfare Rights organisation for help with all the benefits and Turn 2 Us is also a great resource.
spoke with hmrc on line tonight and not much help but said to put a claim in for tax credits and we both will receive claim forms and they will decide who gets it . its seems a strange way of going about things if you ask me but that a government agency for you thanks for the replies guys
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