Maintenance/Mortgage

[chloe1308]

Hi I’m new to this to please bear with.
I’m a part time working mum of 2. My children’s father left the family home just over 2 months ago. We own our home and have a relatively high mortgage (he works in IT and is doing well).
Whilst we were together I was unable to claim child benefit due to his salary.
Now he has gone he has paid the mortgage for the last 3 payments but all other bills I am now fully responsible for and paying. He has not paid one penny maintenance towards the children. He is under the impression because he has been paying mortgage he does not need to pay for maintenance.
I have made an application for child tax credits but this is a long slow painful process. I am able to claim child benefit which has been sorted.
So my question is, if he pays the mortgage is he right not to contribute towards the children?
He has informed me as of the 1st March he will no longer be paying the mortgage so will in fact start paying maintenance as of then.
Any advice or clarity on this is gratefully received.

Many thanks

Child tax credit shouldn't take too long to sort. You need to see a solicitor to get some advice. Do you work ? How old are your children- you may be able to claim Income support or job seekers allowance alongside the tax credits depending on their age.

Sorry just seen that you work part time. if you work over 16 hours on a low income then you should get working tax credits and child tax credits .

Thanks for the response, yes I work 14 hours per week, am trying to up them to 16 so I can claim working tax too. Although I’ve now been informed i need to apply for universal credit instead of child tax? It’s down to your postcode?

were you married?
generally when a home and children are involved MN's wonderful people suggest a shit hot lawyer.

If you are staying in the house then you are responsible for paying the mortgage and bills. He needs to be paying maintenance for the children.

Unfortunately if you aren’t going to be able to afford the house then you may have to consider selling it

The rule of thumb is if you live in it, you pay for it in full. Essentially, your ex is ‘renting’ his share to you. Short term, if you can’t afford it (I couldn’t when my ex left), you need to agree with him how the mortgage and maintenance are managed. Ultimately, from a moving on perspective, you don’t need defaults on your credit record because it will cause problems for you both regardless of whether you rent or buy.
You may need to accept the house will need to be sold.

Seek legal advice - ask for a free half hour to discuss. Use wiki force.com to get good information about what might happen and then use that as a basis for discussion with a solicitor. The more clued up you are, the cheaper it will be in the long run.

It’s hard. Hang on in there.

No we are not married. Yes I can afford mortgage and bills and maintaining lifestyle of our 2 children but he is dead set on selling property and releasing his part so he can buy again by himself. I can not afford nor do I earn enough to do the same.
I am desperate to stay in the house with our children, close to the best school in the area, my support network etc.
I was just wondering if he is supposed to have paid maintenance as well as mortgage or if he was right to do one or the other.
I will be paying the mortgage as of next month and he will then be paying maintenance

If his name is on the mortgage he has a legal responsibility to pay it.
Any payments you do keep records etc as if a sale needs to go ahead in future you need to prove it was you not him

Have you done a calculation online to see how much maintenance he would have to pay? If this figure is lower than the mortgage payments I would tread carefully as you will end up worse off.
Long term, you either need to buy him out or move house.