Gah! My exH has done it again, and I need plain English advice so that he doesn't screw things up for DD.
I've put a post in legal - but basically, I want to know what the Education and Inspections Act says about shared care arrangements and eligibility criteria based on address and household income.
Let me explain!
DD is going to secondary school in Sept, and has been accepted at our first choice school which is one other than the priority area school for my home. DD spends 50% of her time here, and 50% with her Dad (agreed by mutual arrangement, no court order) - but, I get Child Benefit, Child Tax Credit and CSA. I consider myself financially responsible for DD - and pay for all necessary expenses at both homes. My address was used for the purposes of school admission application because I get the child benefit - but exH current address is in the priority area for our first choice school.
The address issue has always been a problem for exH and he has, in the past, notified the school, GPs and so forth that DD has changed her address to his - causing major confusion on a regular basis.
Anyway, the letter offering DD a place sets out the criteria under which she would be eligible for free home-to-school transport. These criteria are based on the location of DD's home address in relation to the various schools, and the financial circumstances of the household where she lives.
It is possible that my financial circumstances would mean DD would be eligible for transport from my home to school, and I planned to apply for free transport, once I am receiving the relevant benefits, before DD starts in Sept. ExH didn't know all of this because he has a habit of blabbing personal info about my household finances to all and sundry, so I don't tell him!
My exH however, is making things very complicated. Firstly, as soon as I sent him a copy of the offer letter, he decided that he wanted to buy a spare seat on the school bus for DD (a spare seat scholars term ticket) for her to travel from both homes and asked me to submit a joint application with him for this - but he wanted to use a future address for a house that he has put an offer on in order to add weight to the application, because then it would be on the same route as the bus from my house, rather than a different route where he currently lives.
Then, when I told him that DD might be eligible for free transport, he said that I must make sure that I put on the form that DD has special circumstances because she would only be eligible for free transport when she was with me, and not when she is with him, but he wants to "buy" a seat on the school bus to and from his "new" house at the same time.
There are so many variables and so many different possibilities that it seems sensible to wait until nearer the time. As far as I am concerned, I will make sure that DD can get to school from either her Dads house or mine and I have told him this. You would think he'd be happy with that, but no, he doesn't want me to sort it out.
He says it's urgent because we have to ensure that DD gets a seat and he wants to be fully involved and submit a joint application as soon as possible, with DD's special circumstances clearly detailed. My concern is that if he applies for a paid-for seat from his "new" address, the Local Authority will then discount my application for free transport later in the year. ExH works in the same building as the School Transport Team and from what he has said, he seems to be in their office every day getting advice, but of course he hasn't got all the facts.
It feels like I'm trying to be reasonable, but he wants me to do it his way - even though the system doesn't allow for that. I have reassured him that I consider DD to have "two homes" emotionally and practically, but that this is a legal thing - but he seems to want to make some sort of political/social point, which is making things really difficult.
Help!