Child tax credits query

[TheVirgin]

Hello, I don't know if anyone has been in a similar position. STBXH and I have recently separated and are no longer living together. I have no income at the moment because I was a SAHM before I started divorce proceedings. Decree nisi has already been granted. I want to apply for child tax credits but the online calculator says that I won't be entitled. STBXH was a high earner (>£200k) and used me as an employee to get tax relief but I never actually did any work for his company and I never received any income either as it went into his business account which I had no access to. When we were married it was fine because we had a joint account I could use but now we are completely cut off and I have only a little savings. He has given me my P45 also. Would he get in any trouble if I inform them about this and is there any way I can claim these benefits as we are really struggling at the moment. Thanks for any advice you can offer.

Yes tell them. Is he not paying maintenance? Talk to the CMS

If he is such a high earner, why are you struggling? He should be supporting you and your children. On that kind of salary, you will very likely be awarded spousal maintenance. If you had not been on the payroll, the difference in earnings would have been more obvious, meaning a higher award to you. He is being very foolish not to support you now, as I imagine the courts would settle very favourably towards you.

Get yourself the best solicitor you can afford. It seems he has made sure you have little access to funds, though :-(
Suggest he provides an account for paying legal fees, which he funds!

Could anyone lend you the money for legal fees? Were any savings/shares put in your name for tax purposes?
If he has been treating you this way & cutting you off from a means to get legal support, I would not be worrying about whether or not he would get into trouble!
My advice - make an appointment with a solicitor. Be totally honest & explain the fake job. Your ex may well have done that deliberately as SAHM have a more generous maintenance payment on divorce, if there are funds in the marriage. Clearly on his salary there are! It seems to me that he is trying to minimise maintenance to you & stop you from getting access to legal help to challenge this.

Thanks for that. I will tell them. His last contract ended in December and he is suddenly very poor and cannot find a job but somehow manages to fly his OW across the Atlantic on a regular basis. Because he's not working we are not getting any child maintenance either. It's so ridiculous.

Tax credits can make an award on current income rather than last years. They don't advertise this and sometimes it requires a manager to approve, but I had mine based on current income for years. Sometimes I phoned them every few months to update my income.

You definitely need a lawyer though as he is clearly hiding his assets in the business to get out of paying. I don't know what the legal implications of turning him into the HMRC would be as you were technically on the payroll. You need special legal advice on that.

I'm in a similar situation here... I'm a SAHM but also a 50/50 shareholder in my husbands limited company meaning on paper I earn the same as him even though I only do a few admin type work for the business. The advice I've been given is that the courts will still take this into account because after divorce my earnings will go to zero and I will not have the potential to continue with the business whereas my husband can continue on his own earnings increasing (because he will have my bit too). They will also take this into account when deciding on spousal allowance.

Please let me know you're outcome... I'd be interested to know what happens xx