Ex DP unemployed and wants to claim child benefit in his name. Could this impact in other ways

[NoMoreLimbo]

Hi all. So my ex has been unemployed since spring. Lost the job due to pandemic impacting buisness etc.

It is pretty much a 50-50 arrangement how the DC's spend their time. At his insistence as when we split he was earning loads of ££ and before split he barely saw them. It was a horrid abusive relationship and it took years to break free. Anyhow, fast forward.

I am currently working and am not claiming the child benefit as I have to pay back most of it in taxes. So, of course as he is not working he should claim it as he would be entitled. However, he said he couldn't as there is already a claim in place (guess this is because I claimed it previously in my name and it is now on hold) BUT and it is big one. When I started looking into it to see what I needed to so that he can claim in his name is seems like the person claiming child benefit is automatically granted 'resident parent' status!

I am not happy with the 50/50 arrangement and he is controlling and emotionally blackmailing the DC's and I hope that the arrangement can be altered so that they spend more time with me.

I am concerened that he will also put in a claim for child maintenance despite the 50/50 as I am working and he is not. Any thoughts welcome.

No child benefit won’t affect his UC. His savings will if he has more than £16k

[quote NoMoreLimbo]@Changethetoner Thanks for the update re lodgers-universal credit.

I am still not clear on whether not claiming child benefit would prevent him from claiming universal credit. Anyone??[/quote]
You don't need to be claiming child benifits to claim UC just there BC, but it makes it ALOT easier to claim UC for them
He could just add on his statement both DC are living with him' although he has to be primary carer but there not that good a checking and as your not claiming it won't flag up

An update. @frontlegsofacow I just spoke with a friend who works for a womens reguge and knows the ins and outs of a lot of these things and have assisted in court etc. She said without me even asking that if he gets the child benefit he is the resident carer

Still googling to see an official source stating this though and am hoping that what @andtheHossyourodeinon said is correct.

I was trying to think of other ways around this.

@PullTheBricksDown mentioned giving him half of what he would get = one childs worth.

However, as I am sitting here pondering.....I have already since he lost his job been paying for a lot more stuff for them as he does not have money but youngest DC can name the label of wine he consumes several times a week So, in a way the ££ he would get for one child I may as well spend directly on the child. Then if he gets a job he just has to start paying his proper half again.

My only concern is that if by not claiming child benefit he can not claim other benefits which then has a negative impact on the DC.

@hello20201 just saw your post after typing my chapter and verse Is BC benefit claim? My ex is unemployed so I assume he gets the unemployment benefit. Although he has been unemployed since spring.

There is only universal credit now. He will get a basic entitlement. Irrelevant of having or not having child benefit. You then build other elements into the claim. For children. Disabilities. Carers and housing element if you pay rent. The amount is reduced if you have more than £5k in savings. To zero if you have £16k.

@NoMoreLimbo www.gov.uk/child-benefit/eligibility as far as I understand it to claim child benefit you are considered the person responsible for the child ergo primary care giver

@NoMoreLimbo

An update. *@frontlegsofacow* I just spoke with a friend who works for a womens reguge and knows the ins and outs of a lot of these things and have assisted in court etc. She said without me even asking that if he gets the child benefit he is the resident carer

Still googling to see an official source stating this though and am hoping that what @andtheHossyourodeinon said is correct.

I was trying to think of other ways around this.

@PullTheBricksDown mentioned giving him half of what he would get = one childs worth.

However, as I am sitting here pondering.....I have already since he lost his job been paying for a lot more stuff for them as he does not have money but youngest DC can name the label of wine he consumes several times a week So, in a way the ££ he would get for one child I may as well spend directly on the child. Then if he gets a job he just has to start paying his proper half again.

My only concern is that if by not claiming child benefit he can not claim other benefits which then has a negative impact on the DC.

Thanks for the update. I may need to do more digging too.

But you can actually claim child benefit even if the child doesn't live with you as long as you make contributions that are equal to or above the child benefit amount so thats not entirely correct @Tinyhumansurvivalist

www.gov.uk/child-benefit-child-lives-with-someone-else

Only for 8 weeks if you read the link and beyond that it is uncertain, and only considered if you make contributions to the child's care over the amount of child benefit received. So your point is mute I'm afraid.

Do you mean moot?

Plus it does say it can extend more than 8 weeks if you are still making contributions the same or more than CB.

I am just refuting your point that it is always the case that claiming CB makes you the resident parent

The CB / resident carer might not be in paperwork the way we think of it. The rule isn't "claims CB therefore must be resident parent" it is "CB must be paid to the resident parent". There is a slight distinction.

In terms of other benefits he could apply for and probably get universal credit for the kids if he has the CB claim in his name
With one adult & two kids that’s roughly £800 -£900 a month
A lot better than the £350’-£400 he is getting as a single claimant that’s probably why he wants it
He won’t get help with the mortgage and payment until 9 months and then it’s interest only which I think may be repayable at a later stage

Only you know what’s he’s like .
If he is a lazy dick head - and he sounds like it
Do NOT give him the child benefit

And while getting CB dosent proof that your the main resident parent
In terms of claiming any child related benefits it pretty much is the case that is assumed that the person claiming is the resident parent and used to be the case for CSA claims
You could end up paying him maintenance of several hundred pounds a month if your above average earner and still have the kids a fair amount of the time and still have to cover the kids general stuff

[quote NoMoreLimbo]@hello20201 just saw your post after typing my chapter and verse Is BC benefit claim? My ex is unemployed so I assume he gets the unemployment benefit. Although he has been unemployed since spring.[/quote]
Birth certificate he has to have that to prove the children are real and they are his. Or adoption forms whatever to basically prove you have PR child benifit doesn't really matter it just makes it easier for UC to verify the children on there end.
He would get about £900 a month of UC with himself and two children on his claim. Council tax support etc then obv child Ben which would be about £140 a month for two children.
Personally if your paying for everything I wouldn't be inclined to sign him over I would possibly transfer the child Ben maybe
Good luck c

@NoMoreLimbo As he was controlling before I really wouldn't do it. It won't go in your favour, he would automatically be seen as resident parent so if anything happens in the future he could go for more time with DC and then get CSA of you?

You say he’s taken in lodgers, how many? There is no tax to pay on the first £7k per year but any money after that is possibly taxable

CB does open up access to benefits he wouldn’t otherwise be entitled to and the possibility of child maintenance from you, which was/ is 15% of your income

If he were fair minded then I'd do it. Controlling and abusive though? Not a cat's chance in hell I would give him that stick to beat me. It is not like he is genuinely short of money by the sounds of it so he may well be up to no good.

@StrippedFridge 'Not a cat's chance in hell I would give him that stick to beat me. ' this! You are so right. Unfortunately every time I allow myself to get lulled into some form of ignorance to his past behavious and think this time now he has changed I have had a bad wake up call

Now you are free the cycle is getting faster and less destructive. This time you have had some angst but haven't done anything that will come back and bite you hard.

Having escaped a different kind of toxic situation (bonkers mother) I think it is important to recognise that the cycle of abuse is rarely broken in one big chop. It is more like a diminishing spiral. At its peak it is a huge rollercoaster with massive ups and downs taking weeks to roll around. Then you start to take actions to shrink it so the next time round the loop you do it faster, you have smaller ups and downs, it just shrinks, until one day there is no endless rollercoaster of abuse for you.

For me I had to unlearn beating myself up for failure to instantly break out of the abuse mindset. I had to learn to congratulate myself for getting round the loop faster with less damage this time compared to last, even though compared to a non-embroiled person I was being a bit daft.

Keep the claim in your name. Pay the tax.

Op why on earth are you facilitating your ex to not needing a paid job? Just let him get on with the choices he has made

As he is controlling and abusive I would absolutely claiming it and dealing with the faff of paying the tax on it.

He has worked out being resident parent will entitle him to more and potentially claim maintenance from you!!

Ensure you keep up with Dr and dentist appointments and evidence that you pay for the bulk of all child related costs as I wouldn't put it passed him to see this as his ticket to never working again now that he has discovered how much is coming in via tenants!

Urgh I meant lodgers!

I've tried to RFT and didn't see any comments on this aspect of having lodgers. It's a huge safeguarding risk to have lodgers in a house where your DC live and spend overnights. Do not let him do this. I seriously doubt that it would be considered to be a suitable home for the DC if you involved SS or CAFCASS.

Also, do not let him claim CB.

Also, you do not ever need to pay him child maintenance if you do fully shared care. You can only claim child maintenance from the NRP if you are the resident parent. If you split nights 50/50, the RP can still claim maintenance through CMS if the care is not fully shared (ie nights are split evenly but the RP does most of the day to day parenting).

HosannainExcelSheets DSB checks could be done on the lodgers to circumnavigate safe guarding surely?