Any advice welcome

[Bedsheets4knickers]

My friend and her partner are splitting after 18 months of trying to save relationship. They have a 3 year old son. They have been living together 5 years but she is not on the mortgage (part of many problems) . She took 9 months of maternity then went back to work . She's always contributed financially . He is paying her £50 a week when she moves out and sons childcare costs. Childcare costs halved in jan. He's keeping the car,
Is she entitled to any sort of aid. She's really going to struggle.
How can I help her??

Tell her to get to a solicitor (normally you can get a free first appointment or something, just to see if they can help so she knows whether it's worth bothering) and see if she has claim on the house, if she has contributed then I think sometimes it's taken into account but depends on where and length of relationship and things so she'd need to ask someone with legal knowledge. Has she checked the amount of maintenance is at least as much as the CSA would calculate from his income? If not then she should do that. Also depending on her income it may be better for him to pay maintenance direct to her if she can get help with childcare costs through tax credits or childcare vouchers. If he won't do that (I had a friend whose ex wouldn't out of pure vindictiveness), it might be financially better to go through the CSA even though they do charge an initial fee now I think.

Thank you. Il pass all that on .