Please talk me through my finances

[Upsherises]

I am too emotionally entrenched in the situation to get any clarity over my finances having realised that I need to leave DP. We have 2 DCs.

I earn 16.5k per year (before tax etc) working part-time and realise I need to increase to FT eventually when I'm in a better place and DCs are settled in order to support us.

DP will obviously need to pay maintenance and he earns 48k per year before tax.

I have been told that I can borrow 100k for a mortgage and will have a 50k deposit. Rentals seem to be sky high in my area and it would appear more manageable financially in the long term to buy. However, I will only be able to afford a 2 bed according to my calculations.

I need to work out my future finances before I can make any plans. How much maintenance will I get? How much will I be able to claim in benefits? Is this manageable? Has anyone else managed to survive on a similar income as a single parent of 2 DCs?

100k mortgage seems high on that salary ?

I’m guessing you have some equity / deposit to be able to get that mortgage on that salary?

Use one of the online benefits calculators to work out roughly what you’ll get. You can also use online maintenance calculators to work out what your ex should pay you.

benefits-calculator-2.turn2us.org.uk/

www.gov.uk/calculate-child-maintenance

Use @Bagelsandbrie websites for really quite accurate figures. Are you going to be main resident parent?

Some lenders will allow cms in affordability calculations but you may need to search hard!

Nationwide mortgages will allow you to include tax credits / universal credit and maintenance payments in their mortgage offer calculation. Many lenders won’t.

You need to speak to a solicitor. You maybe entitled to more than £50k if that's a 50/50 split of equity.

My ex agreed to give me more equity to protect his pension (I still had a % of his pension).

Had my situation been different I may have looked to remain in family home. My DC were teenagers and I wanted a clean break of our finances.

There are options, make sure you explore them all.

She says DP so they aren't married so assets will be split how they were set up

I was on 18.5k gross when I left exh and wasn't entitled to benefits except child benefit. The only way I managed it was for exh to pay me spousal maintenance for 2yrs while I got my career back on track. My mortgage is with nationwide and they took those payments as income. I used a mortgage broker which I'd also advise.

Check out wikivorce calculators too for helpful advice, even if you aren't married. Good luck

Going by the OP, she isn’t married.

Therefore assets will be 50:50 if equally and jointly owned.

The OP may claim CMS but needs to agree co parenting to inform what this will be.