can you get tax credits while still living at the same address with ex

[lex75]

Short story long, me and my partner (common-law, not married) have decided about two months ago to split, relationship has been sour well.. for years, and the fact that we had a child together didn't help.

Our rental lease expires at the end of May and we will be sharing the same flat together with our 3-yr old daughter until then, after which we are moving separately. As we're not sharing finances anymore, we live like two flatmates, we only share child expenses & 50-50 split on housing. We're planning on setting up some child maintenance agreement in June after we actually move out from here.

Questions:

Should I apply for tax credits now, am I eligible if we are still living under the same roof although we are not together anymore? I might not be getting much anyway as I'm close to the threshold but considering that nursery fees are close to 1K and will at the same level until she starts Reception, anything I can get extra would help.

Does it make sense to do the child agreement now as well? Do we have to use CSA or we can do our own? And if not, is it advisable to use CSA? i.e. more secure?

Many thanks for any advice you can give.

[Katiekite]

While living under the same roof you're only entitled to benefits as you would have recieved if you were a couple. I remember the benfit office once came out to like interview my ex and I as we were living together to make sure what was happening and advice us on what to do.

[lex75]

Thanks. As a couple we only qualify for child benefit.

As a single mom I'm not sure what I would qualify for but my base income plus bonus is really close to the threshold so I assume I won't be getting much in child tax credit.

So I'd have to wait until we move separately to apply for child tax credit and draft a child maintenance agreement...

Any other ideas?

[RandomMess]

Err no if you are living completely seperately under the same roof you can claim!

The relationship has broken down, you explain that. Provide you are shopping, cooking, washing etc etc seperately then that is fine.

[JoeRich]

You can claim WTC/CTC whilst still living together after you've separated. I did this (last year) after someone advised me I could, and no questions were asked to prove how 'separate' our lives were.

[purpleroses]

I claim tax credits and used to have a lodger who rented a room in my house. No problems. Can't see how your situation is technically any different just because you have previously been in a relationship with your "lodger". As long as you have separate bedrooms and separate housekeeping and don't eat together then you should be OK.

Child maintanence isn't taken into account when claiming tax credits, so you don't need to wait for that to be in place first.

You don't have to use the CSA. Personally, I wouldn't bother if your ex and you can agree on who your DD will live with and how much the other one should pay. You can go on the CSA website and there is a calculator that will work out what they think he should be paid - normally it's 15% of your ex's net income for one DC, minus 1/7 for each night he has her overnight in a week. The best thing is if you can get him to set up a direct debit then it's likely to be paid each month, and you can go to the CSA instead if he refuses or cancels it.

[lex75]

Thank you very much everyone, I really appreciate it.

[libbs75]

Well, yes you can claim a single persons tax credit whilst living in the same property but you have to have clear proof of separation and a valid reason for your situation. This is not on hearsay as I live in the same property as Ex and have a bonafide single persons award. I took HMRC to tribunal in 2012 and appeal was upheld i also had a letter from concentrix asking for info but once they received judges decision and statement of reasons they went away.

[Scottishlass1980]

Hi, I have a similar situation here. I live under the same roof as my Ex and my son who is 16. We’re more friends than anything else, he offered us a place to stay as I was back at my parents place and ended up having a huge fallout and they asked me to leave. I’m a low earner so therefore had no spare money to get things for a house and also have debt that I need to pay so when he offered I thought great at least it’s a roof over our heads and I could try and save some money. I pay him money at the start of the month for rent, council tax, gas & electricity. Later on in the month he transfers money for our son, he doesn’t financially support me in anyway. I received a letter from tax credits asking if I knew him and if I was in a relationship with him and they then asked for bank statements, copy of my car insurance, phonebills etc. I forwarded all this to them.

I was on the webchat with HMRC and he said that there were no payments scheduled to me after 31st May, I wasn’t able to access any payments in manage my tax credits either. It let me check progress and it said in there that they have sent me a reply, he said there was nothing online to say the checks were completed and that the reason why I couldn’t get into my payments is because my claim was being randomly checked. I just wondered if anyone else has had this happen to them and what the outcome was.

I am a bit worried as my claim was checked back in 2015 and things were fine, I’m still in the same position now so I don’t understand why they may have suspended my payments.

Can anyone help me please

[Poppypup123]

I need some urgent advice. My husband left me some years ago. We have a joint mortgage. We had a joint account for wages and joint bill payments One day he just moved himself back in, told me he had sought legal advice and because his name was on the mortgage agreement I could not stop him. I had a single claim for tax credits in place, had a chat with a benefits advisor about where I stood with my claim, I was told I did not have to change my claim as my circumstances hadn’t changed, he was not my partner, I could be separated under one roof, we had separate rooms, lead separate life, joint account wasn’t a problem. The bills are all in my name apart from the joint mortgage and his own personal bills for car finance, dvla and insurance. The joint account is still in place, he took charge of it as it’s his only account, downright refused to close it, it was none of my business what he did,threatened me with everything he could think of including taking his own life if I even tried to close the account.... I did look into it and the bank said the procedure would be that they would freeze the account ....my wages are paid into the account, i don’t see a penny of them, all goes on bills he says, he holds both cards for the account, again his property and “none of my business”. This is the way it has been for years. The atmosphere in this house is awful, my daughter and I are on eggshells all the time, it’s like we can’t breathe when he’s around , he doesn’t even speak to us. I have now received a letter from HMRC saying they have discovered a financial link between us. My first response was well yes you would as he owns half the place and lives here. Now I’m in a panic thinking the benefits agency has given me wrong information and maybe they had no clue he was here, this person assured me everything was above board. I have to send in bills in my name, bank statements etc. I have a really bad feeling about this. Anyone else been in this situation? I’m terrified of sending the bank statements in as I feel they are incriminating and I will be accused of all sorts... I’m going to have to get them behind his back as I know for a fact he won’t willingly give them to me, Help

[NeedAnExpert]

I claim tax credits and used to have a lodger who rented a room in my house. No problems. Can't see how your situation is technically any different just because you have previously been in a relationship with your "lodger". As long as you have separate bedrooms and separate housekeeping and don't eat together then you should be OK.

Presumably you missed the bit about the joint account they’ve always had.

[Olaaaaa]

Hello every one
It seems I'm not alone, I'm very frustrated rite now. It's long story and I hope some one can answer. I was in relationships with my ex on 2007 we were very happy. Then I had surgery after surgery .we tried to have a family It didnt work.we gone through ivf and still dint work .I realized Ihave to freeze my embryos . I separated from him 2009 . He didnt want to, i suffered from depression and tried to end my life .cut the story short he is my carer we are no longer in the relationship together.My ex is using my adress as correspondence adress as he has fraud before while living in the shared accommodation.he has driving licence bank statement work papers he just dont live in the same adress with me. So I used my embryos and have 2 kids but in the birth certificate I put my ex as he is the father even though it's by ivf. Not natural. When I added my daughter on december they send me a letter on January asking what's the relationship with my ex. And asked me to send all my Bill's bank statements rent everything. I send everything to the mall my Bill's are in my name and he is just.my carer.they send me a reply saying they stoped my child tax credit since april 19 and waiting for the decision what's going to happend saying we think you are in relationship with my ex.

[Poppypup123]

www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/claimant-compliance-manual/ccm15035

If you feel their decision is wrong you have to appeal straight away. Read the above, it’s lengthy but very informative. My situation was different in that my ex moved back into my property against my will, I sent all the documents they wanted and a three page letter explaining the circumstances of the living situation in great detail along with my separation agreement and it was accepted, no change to my claim, although it will most probably be looked at again in the future. Good luck x

[Karlajrees]

Hello! I know this is a few years old now but what was the outcome? I’m in the same boat. Living with ex partner and our 2 children as there just wasn’t enough room with my mum in her flat.

Me and ex are good friends and even work together and now live together (for now) I am being investigated/have a phone meeting next week as they don’t believe I am single. I put my name on council tax as I agreed to pay that and it’s my name on gas and electric as that’s my way of contributing.

[Emma70459]

Hey how did the investigation go?