Child benefit, primary carer status and maintenance payments

[OneForTheRoadThen]

I currently claim CB and UC as a single parent (work full time, 2 kids, 60/40 custody). Next year I won't be eligible for these anymore and need to decide what is best to do in terms of either keeping the child benefit claim in my name and opting out/ paying it back or closing my claim so ex-partner can claim CB and therefore UC. The latter is his preferred option unsurprisingly!

My concern is that this would in effect give him primary carer status (even though he isn't). He doesn't pay maintenance but says he could afford it once he gets UC. However if this doesn't materialise I have heard it would be difficult for me to prove to the CMS that I'm primary carer as the recipient of CB holds a lot of weight in their decision making process.

So I was hoping for advice on where I would stand legally if I did close my CB claim? Would I lose primary carer status? Would it be difficult for me to pursue maintenance via the CMS if he didn't start paying? Would he in fact be able to claim maintenance from me if CB confers primary carer status?

Thanks in advance

Will you be earning over £60K if not you will still be eligible for some CB.

Yes I will no longer be eligible for any CB at all

How secure is your job? Is there any chance that you'll end up needing to claim it again (e.g. If you didn't like the new role or similar)

If he claims as the primary carer and he isn’t, surely that could be fraud?

His finances are not your problem. he isn’t primary carer and he should not be claiming benefits on the basis that the children are part of his household.

I’d need my CB claim open and just ask them not to pay you any money.

It's pretty secure. Also I'm remarrying next year and our total household income is over the threshold for CB regardless.

I'm conflicted because I don't mind if my ex claims the money as I can't but I don't want to make myself vulnerable if his promises to pay maintenance don't materialise!

I did worry about that. I had a quick look at the child benefit criteria and there's nothing in there that says you have to be primary carer oddly. I have told my ex to investigate more as I don't want to do it on his behalf and also I don't want to inadvertently be party to any fraud.

Don’t close your CB claim. Opt out. Definitely.

The fact he wants to claim CB and UC is not your problem. The children live with you most of the time. They’re your household for benefits purposes, for school admissions, for the NHS, and so on.

you don’t need to discuss this stuff with him at all. Your income increasing is not relevant to him, nor is your benefit entitlements.

Does your ex currently not pay maintenance?

No he has never paid anything because I get a UC top up and he's a low earner. He says he will start when he claims UC but I'm worried because he hasn't shown any willing to pay even a token amount of maintenance or towards childcare since we split.

You dont need to be the primary carer to claim child benefit. He can claim it if he contributes at least the same amount to the child.

It would not be fraudulent for him to claim it

I think you're probably right. It's misplaced guilt - he's very emotionally manipulative and wanting the children to have a good standard of living at his house that is putting me on the fence. But I would be making myself vulnerable I think. Apparently if he was considered primary carer by virtue of having the CB he could make a claim for maintenance against me even though I have the children more.

Yes this is what I read. Is that also true for UC child element?

Apparently if he was considered primary carer by virtue of having the CB he could make a claim for maintenance against me even though I have the children more.

Who told you this, pretty sure it’s not correct.

The CMS when I called them! They said anyone with primary carer status is entitled to make a claim.

They also said if I made a claim and he denied I was primary career their decision making process favours the recipient of child benefit. I'll link the decision making guidelines below

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1096149/volume-1-basic-principles.pdf#page15

That’s not how it works. He is supposed to pay maintenance regardless of whatever UC you claim.

Why are you so busy tying yourself in knots worrying about his finances.

Keep your CB claim. Opt out of the payment.

Get on the CMS website and open a claim against your ex.

Stop telling him about your finances entirely. He needs to pay a proportion of his income towards his children. Not try to scam the tax payer into paying him UC he’s not actually entitled to.

I guess because I feel it will ultimately affect the children and their quality of life when they're with him.

But he’s not caring about their quality of life when they’re with you. Is he?

Or he’d be paying maintenance.

You're right Sudocream I don't know why I feel so guilty.

I suspect the answer there is that he’s been manipulating you to feel guilty and responsible for years.

And you may have had a lifetime of similar.

Lots of women end up feeling like this.

It is in your (and your children’s) interest that you keep your CB claim. And that their father pays what he should for them.

He can also think about what he can do to increase his household income and better support his children. Just as you have done. And it’s often harder to do as the resident parent than the nonresident parent.

Given its a 60/40 split would he even be directed to pay very much in the way of maintenance?

He could make a child benefit claim anyway whether you close your claim or not

Keep it in your name. You are primary carer. I wouldn't give him the opportunity to make a false cms claim against you.

Does it matter if it's not much
Maintenance?

I guess he could make a claim if he likes. It can go to a decision maker.

Don't touch this with a bargepole. Surely your ex is planning on committing benefit fraud, if he claims UC. For your sake I hope it doesn't but circumstances can change in a heartbeat. You'd have a real fight on your hands claiming UC for the children (which potentially would be much more than CB) if he already was and what about school catchment areas? Presumably he'd have to say DC live at his address for him to claim.
This could have implications that no one has even thought of here but why do you even want to help him when he hasn't paid a penny in CM?

Yes I didn't think of those implications. I hope he isn't doing to commit benefit fraud.