Tax credits?

[arlagirl]

Divorcing shortly . Its a big learning curve...
I'm staying in marital home with kids.
A friend mentioned tax credits.... Anyone have any knowledge?

[TiredAndConfused22]

Hi, sorry to hear you've got that going on. If you go to //www.gov.uk/tax-credits-calculator you can work out roughly how much you might be entitled to. Child tax credits go to anyone with children (income dependent) and then if you work 16+ hours per week you will also be eligible for working tax credit (WTC) which is an extra couple of hundred potentially. WTC also means you might be able to claim up to 70% of childcare costs. Child maintenance not counted as income.

The system will be changing to Universal Credit at some point in the next few yeArs, though, which is likely to be less generous. Already in place in a few locations I believe.

I am 2 years on from you - still in marital home with kids, though will need to downsize soon. Any more questions please feel free xx

[arlagirl]

Thankyou. Will be downsizing in the next year or so.
Its a whole new world....but a positive one

[arlagirl]

Also Trying to work out what is reasonable for h to pay towards bills etc. He will obviously have two houses and I know I must pay for myself, but what is a reasonable contribution from him with 2 children ?

[bloodyteenagers]

Starting point I think is 18% of income, think that is what the Cms rate is.
As for paying your bills would be nice if he did but he doesn't have to. He is only obligated to pay child
Maintainence and he doesn't have to pay any more that the cms rate.

[TiredAndConfused22]

Hello, here is another handy calculator - for child maintenance in this case www.cmoptions.org/en/calculator/

The child maintenance comes to you 'for the children' but of course in practice your bills are their bills too so it would include a contribution towards heating, lighting etc in the children's main home, as well as the more 'visible' costs such as clothing, swimming lessons etc.

If you're married you may also be entitled to some 'spousal maintenance'. I have read a lot of posts on mn saying that spousal is a thing of the past, but I have spoken to several family lawyers on my travels and all said it would definitely apply where there is a large disparity in income (e.g. the xh earns £100k, the xw earns £10k part time because she was previously a sahm and is also main carer for the children). This would be calculated according to the needs of both parties, and on ability to pay.

[arlagirl]

Thank you again.
We've just had a discussion
He's planning to contribute £1200 a month which I feel is reasonable. I earn £1100 so that will cover everything with some left over.

[dazedandconfusedagain]

Is £1200 18% of his wages? If it's more then I would arrange your new life separate from him relying on this extra money. He could stop it and reduce it to the minimum CMS liability at any time.