Pls can anyone advise me if i should make a claim as DH and i separated 7 weeks ago ?

[Fakeblondie]

The thing is i dont want to get into trouble because he is still paying all the bills and his salary into our joint account.
DH is living at his parents 80 miles away so apart from massive fuel bills thats the only financial change.
According to the tax credit calculator as i have 4 dc and work i`m entitled to almost 1000 per month ! The thing is hes been gone 7 or so weeks and he does come at weekends to see us as its really sort of a trial separation. As he lives so far away he has also stayed over now twice when weve had days out planned.This could potentially go on for months, so if i inform the Inland rev and they pay me would i be in thw wrong claiming when his salary is still effectively avaialable to me ? TIA

Er, yes, of course it would be wrong!

phone them and tell them the whole truth. they'll tell you whether it's ok or not.

Yes Fake, you should separate properly before you claim, you will never have any bother if you do it properly from the off. Seen too many cases where people claim as LP only to get back with ex and have to repay lots and lots of money.

Get your own bank acount and have him pay you maintenance (which doesn't count as income for purposes of WTC). Take your name off the joint account. Take him off the electoral roll and inform council tax that he has moved out. They will need his new address. Then make sure he has proof of new address, ie rent/council tax/electoral roll/bills re-routed etc. To all intents and purposes he must be living totally separately from you and be able to prove this should you be asked.

There is nothing stopping him spending the odd night at your house, but you must cover all of the above first.

Crumbs I can't believe I posted that in July it's now Sep and we are still separated and I haunt claimed. I'm now fairly skint but he is still living at his parents and will only see the dc here so I'm never going to be able to separate properly am I ?Asked for bell this week as am working overtime and he will only help if he can sleep here . So wish I'd done all this properly like so done said and had my own money now because I'd spend the first few pounds having the bloody locks changed !

sorry predictive text and didn't check it first !

Sounds like you need to start formalising the separation by seeing a solicitor about divorce. Once you begin that process you can set out things like financial support, accommodation & access arrangements. You'll also be able to claim state help as a lone parent. If you search via the Law Society there are many solicitors that offer a free half-hour consultation. CAB are also very useful. A website called 'DivorceAid' contains quite a lot of information as well. Good luck