About to split up, any tips?

[BrittaPerry]

Hi,
Does anyone have any tips for starting out as a lone parent? What sold I set up? Where should I live? Etc?

Argh!

I would always say finances first so make sure you ring tax credits and end your couple claim and start a single person claim as soon as you split.

Open a bank account in just your name that you can have your money paid into.

Do you work or not? if you work make sure your salary is paid into your bank account if you don't work ring income support and register with them so they send you a form.

Contact the council for either council tax benefit or single adult discount depending on your circumstances.

Housing - can you stay where you are and claim housing benefit or mortgage interest help?

and collect up copies of all your paperwork, birth certificates, passport, insurance policies, cheque books ets so you know where they all are when you need them.

Good luck

Thanks :-)

I will be moving, first to my parents for a few weeks to get myself sorted,then to my own place of some kind.

We need to get out of the tenancy here somehow.

If I start my own claims for tax credits etc, then what do I do about this house? I think I could afford to pay half the rent on this house for a short while if need be, from what I think I'll get benefits wise, but it would be very tight.

Hoping staying at my parents will give me breathing space to sort out benefits etc. obviously I can't claim housing benefit there, but I'm pretty sure my parents will only want minimum rent from me, and I should be able to find a house in that town fairly easily.

Don't tell absolutely anything to the children until you know exactly what will happen next (ie. where the other parent will live, when and for how long contact will take place, whether they will have a room in the other house, etc.). Uncertainity is not good for the children, avoid it as much as you can.

Good luck!