what financial assistance will my friend get?

[woahthere]

My friend wants to divorce her husband. She has 2 children aged 2 and 12 and pays about £500 on her mortgage. She doesnt work and doesnt want to work until her youngest is able to communicate with her (she was abused as a child and also worked in a nursery where she witnessed abuse so she doesnt trust childcare until her child can talk to her). What will she be entitled to, will she get help with the mortgage or would she have to sell her house and split the money with her husband. She is very worried and wants to get her facts straight before she delivers the blow to her husband.

how does she pay mortgage if she doesnt work? or you mean H pays mortgage?

not working because of fear of abuse in childcare settings does not make sense, sorry. maybe she needs counselling for that?

but she needs legal advice from a solicitor re: her rights after divorce and what she entitled to - why is she divorcing?

She could get income support as a lone parent until the youngest is 5, so she doesn't have to worry about putting her child into childcare if she doesn't want to. But she wouldn't get a lot of help with mortgage payments - there is some help for mortgage interest but only after a few months, and it wouldn't cover the capital repayments. If she sold the house and split the equity, it might take her above the savings threshold for benefits as well.

A CAB would help take her through the various scenarios. It could end up being quite complex if she has savings capital or if she has to move, so it's worth making the effort to get individualised advice.

Has she thought about becomeing a childminder herself if she doesn't want to put her own dc into childcare. It's one solution.

The house situation will depend on the circumstances. She is obviously assuming he will move out - he may not agree to this.

Whether she can keep the house will depend on if she can afford it and that is likely to depend on how much maintenance she will get (20% of H's net income for 2 children). She will CTC of just over £100 a week. Don't know about other benefits as I work.

Becoming a childminder or finding some other work she can do from home is a good suggestion!