How likely am I to receive child benefit after separation?

[Pinkrose444]

My husband and I separated a couple of months back due to him cheating. I reside in the family home with our 2 children and he has left to go live with the affair partner. He has stopped paying the bills and pays for a few clubs the children attend and some other expenses equating to £85 a week. I haven’t applied for child maintenance yet.

He controlled the finances in our marriage and claimed the child benefit himself but then he told me he didn’t claim it as he was a higher earner and wasn’t entitled to it. Since we have separated and I am now the primary carer for the children, I applied for the child benefit and have received a rival claim letter which is asking me questions who the kids live and how much child benefit I have received since separation ( none as Iv never received it ) and how much he is currently contributing (£88 a week).

I was mostly looking after the children during the marriage too and worked 2 days a week whilst he worked full time and excelled in his career.

How likely is it that I will be awarded the child benefit? I’m just about managing to pay the bills and expenses for the kids such as food and clothing.

You are primary carer, you should get both. If he lies and says it's 50/50 then you may get awarded one each, but if you have proof they live with you more then you can challenge it.

If they are living full time with you, it should go to you.

If you’re living in a home alone you can claim 25% reduction on council tax for a start. Go on the universal credit website and they’ll ask you a generic question which will tell you what you’re entitled to

Benefits Calculator - entitledto - independent | accurate | reliable https://share.google/aWD2lhW4C6d6UFtXk

This is a really helpful website to make sure youre claiming everything you're entitled to x

Oh dear, he's really done a number on you hasn't he? When you worked 2 days a week did you at least earn enough to pay National Insurance to qualify for your state pension?

You need to check your record and whether you're likely to have paid enough to qualify, taking expected future contributions into account as you might be able to pay to top up any missing contributions, but you can only go back so many years, so something not to be left.

If you are short of NI contributions due to him claiming CB despite you being the main carer, this needs to be taken into account in the divorce settlement. It sounds like he was financially abusive so need to be mindful that he could have hidden money.