Do I qualify for benefits?

[piperrdog]

I work 25 hours a week and a single parent of a 16yr old. My ex and I are still sharing the finances(including the mortgage), would I qualify for single parent benefits?

What on earth are 'single parent benefits' ?

And I ask as a lone parent myself!

If you share finances, you aren't living as a single person financially. Unless you can prove exactly what you pay and what he pays, you won't be eligible for any benefits. But on 25 hours a week and not renting, I think you'd only be looking at tax credits. There's no such thing as single parent benefits either.

I get income support as a single parent, one of the qualifying conditions is that you have to be a single parent of a child under 5. I presume that is what the OP is referring to. Of course that is not the only condition for IS, you also have to meet the income/savings criteria, and the OP won't as they are working 25 hrs pw, plus their child is too old anyway.

OP you can apply for tax credits, these aren't 'single parent benefits' as they are available to anyone on a low income but for single parents the working tax criteria is that you have to be working at least 16 hours a week and you also have to meet some income criteria. But you'd need to make a claim as a single person not a couple, and if you're sharing finances HMRC will check your credit reference details and presume you're actually still in a relationship if you're sharing finances. It is better for your financial independence and eligibility to separate finances as soon as you can. Are you both still living in the marital home? You can actually claim as a single parent when living in the same property as your ex but it muddies the waters a bit.

Check on entitledto.co.uk