Divorced in same house. Losing job may need to claim benefits

[AlbertineViv]

Posted in money but reposting here as I wasn't sure where would work best

ExDH and I divorced in December. We share the same house (but live separately) and children are at uni. It's amicable.
We haven't got tound to making our joint account single yet as we earn similar amounts and split all bills. As part of our divorce agreement we cannot sell the house until the children finish uni, nor do we want to (we want the children to have a base at least). Our mortgage is cheaper than both of us renting and neither of us could afford to buy anywhere with the sale of the house anyway as we still owe a bit. In short, it works financially for us both to live there.
I have just gound out I'm losing my long term job and may need to claim benefits in the interim until I can find another job (I"m in my 50s and applying but finding this hard atm) I understand this is possible when divorced but you need separate bank accounts and to show you live separately, separate lives etc. However, how the hell would ypu be able to show joint bills like the mortgage and council tax are divided?
Would it be best to:
A) retain a joint bank account for all bills with both of us paying half inyo this, though it is still a joint account which benefit people might not like?
B) Divide bills between solo accounts? One person has 4 bills amounting to ££ the other has an equal amount
C) one person converts joint account to dolo, retains all bills and the other pays them a monthly standing order for half?
Also, how soon after leaving my job would it take for benefits to be approved/come through?

Could Citizens Advice Bureau help you work out what's best? It sounds like your living situation works well for you so it's just the financial admin that needs looking at. Good luck with the job hunt, I hope that there's been some redundancy payment arranged.

https://www.nelawcentre.co.uk/information/download/17#:~:text=If%20you%20are%20still%20living,claim%20benefits%20as%20single%20people.

Not sure if this is helpful but it suggests that if you can prove you are single (am sure a decree absolute would do that!), your rights to benefits should not be impacted.

Do you need to do all that for job seekers allowance? If you mean for UC you may not be eligible anyway with no dependants and no rental costs so check that first

You cannot have a joint account as that indicates shared finances, just set yourself up with separate accounts converting one to be a single account, they won’t come and check within the house but ensure outwardly it’s separated

Remember you can claim jobseekers for 6 months which is easier to claim and you don’t need to prove your single status

This is confusing,

did you do a financial order as part of the divorce?

what does that say?

it’s unusual to still have entangled finances after divorce

Thanks everyone. I don't know if I'm eligible for UC as I don't pay rent, just mortgage. JSA will help while I'm looking for work.

We have a financial order and both agreed to delay any sale until after university. No reference was made to joint accounts. Our earnings and pensions were nearly the same so we keep our own pensions.
But even if we start putting everytging into individual bank accounts, one person will need to have council tax and mortgage in that account, so would the other person have all the other bills in theirs? How do you show/prove everything is halved/separate with joint bills?

I have a mortgage and get UC

Have you used the UC calculator to see what you can get?

Well with a mortgage and as a single person with no dependents on the claim you aren't going to get any more on Universal credit than on Contributions based Job seekers allowance so I would say claim the JSA first. It only lasts for six months but it's likely you'll have another job by then. If not then claim UC at that point. With the New style JSA it is contributions based so your ex's income doesn't come into it so much simpler to claim.
The only issue might be if you need to claim help with mortgage interest in which case you can only claim that with UC.
If you have more than 16k savings you won't get any help from means tested benefits.

It is permissible for you to claim UC as a single person living independently. As long as you are actually financially independent. Which would mean being responsible for 50% of the costs.

However there is a higher chance you will be asked to prove you are financially independent. If you readily have the documents to hand that show you pay 50% of all costs and bills then it can be easily demonstrated you are independent.

The evidence you would need to have copies of bills for the relevant period and transfers between accounts. They might want to see full accounts to demonstrate you aren’t being subsidised by him. If you keep this to hand and have everything documented then you have it if they ask.

Thanks everybody. I think I am only eligible for JSA plus about £1? Of u/c. Not sure though if being on uc in whatever tiny amount would entitle me to subsidised NHS dentistry/eyetest etc?

Hopefully after 6 months I will have a new job