A very dear friend is planning to return to UK next year after 10 years working abroad.
I won't go into all the details, suffice to say that she has overcome the after effects of an awful childhood (no easy thing) and just as things were looking up, she lost the love of her life suddenly.
After a year of hiding under the duvet, she got up and made a new life for herself abroad.
Not only that, but a couple of years ago she then became a mum using IVF and is now pregnant - fingers crossed - with a
second baby.
She has been struggling working long hours and found out (in the same week that her pregnancy test was positive) that her contract is not being renewed.
Some friends who travel a lot are lending her a house for a year in the UK, which is great.
The question is, with a toddler and a newborn how will she survive financially?
She thinks that she will not be entitled to any benefits having been abroad for so long and having not paid NI/tax into the UK system.
So - any ideas on how she could manage?
I don't think it will be possible to stay on where she is, the house she's in there is tied to the work.
Like I said, she has survived and thrived against the odds and made her own life.
But this will certainly rate as another of life's curveballs/challenges, and any advice is welcome! Will she even get child benefit?