Does anyone know what sort of financial support I'll get if I leave DH?

[sadmum44]

DH and I have been married for 8 years, we have 3 DC, one at school, one starts school in 2008 and a baby 6mo, and a house in our joint names. I know I'll be entitled to half the capital in the house, but I'm not sure what kind of maintenence I'm entitled to. We don't and nerver have done have a joint bank account, I get the tax credti and child benefit and DH puts money in my accont ebery month which just about covers spending on food and things for the DC, I tp it up with my pt wgaes, about £30 a week at the moment because of the baby. i don't spend much, if anything on myself as i don't have any spare moeny at the end of the month, I'm not worried about me but the amount of money i get i spend on the housekeeping etc and I don't know how I'll get by without DH's input. i know he'll stop it if I leave and i'll need more than i'm getting at the moment to pay rent on somewhere to live. I can't move in with my mum as mydad recently had a stroke and she can't accommodate us while she's got him to look afetr - no one knows i'm thinking about it but its a long story and i need to now where i stand , ican't keep on like things are and it will mean i'll have to movethe dc away from where we're living now but i'm wanting finacial not marriage guidnae at the moment please. any help wold be greatfully recieved.

Sorry to hear about your relationship breakdown You would be entitled to(if you were renting) housing benefit, council tax benefit, more child tax credit possibly working tax credit being on a lone parent.
The maintenance payable would be 25% of your dhs wages. Whether you get that or not is an entirely different matter.
These are rough figure based on a lone parent with 2 children...
£98 week rent paid £117 council tax paid, £57 a week income support, about 120 in CTW/WTC and child benefit £120 monthly.
You would get an extra element for the babay because hes a baby and a bit more in CTC/WTC as theres a 3rd child element.
www.entitledto.co.uk
Your £30 a week wages may be to much for being income support, so they would give you maybe 47 in income support instead....not quite sure how that works.
Hope thats of some help.
So roughly, rent and council tax paid and 170-180 a week to pay bills/eat with.

Figures are dependent upon not only your income, but also your assets. And yes, that includes capital from a house sale, quite rightly, as why should the government fund people to hang onto their savings when plenty of folks have sweet nothing as it is.

You must disclose all your assets, savings, etc. on any benefits application.

So it'd be best to see a qualified advisor on how best to work out where you will be financially were you and your spouse to split.

Also, if you quit your job, it could affect entitlements.

I would seek some serious professional advice.

I never really worried about the financial control thing, before we had the DC i had my own income and he hd his and we shared the bills.when we had dc and i gave up work he just started giving me money to pay for stuff, its just it always goes on thekids.its something i've only just thoguh about now its an issue.
i do some part time tutoring so its something i can do if i move somewhere elsi, i only do it during term tiem so i wo'nt be giving up work as i'll not have any work till septemebr now anyway.i'm not looking for financial hand out from the state expat i was really thinking how much dh would have to give me for the dc as i want to know i can afford somewhere for us tolive, rentingandthen buying. it will be cheaper to get a mortgage than to apy rent but without a permanent income i'm not sure how i'll get a mortgage at the memomet. i know i'll have to get work its just not going to be immediate as i'd have to wait for septemebr now. i can do supply work so i'll be able to get work wherever i move to but there will be high childcare costs with 3dc.
i'm just researching the practicalities, i could just stay and live off my dh but i'm not happy, isuppose i need to jknow my options. my dcwill bemiserale if i leave dh so i'm not definitly going i just want to know if i can afford to.

sadmum - you could get more than 50%, I am going through the same thing and have very simlar circumstances to you with money (IE - I earn a small PT wage and he gives me a few quid a month to cover food) but I am not married. Go and get some legal advice, someone on here told me about something called Schedule 1 of the childrens act, and I am currently applying to have his equity on top of my 50% to enable me to house our sons.

Take a look at my thread in the relationships section if you like - I have had some excellent advice on it

Hi, I'm a divorce lawyer and hope isheisn'the doesn't mind me pointing out that I advised her initially on Mumsnet!

In your circs, Sadmum, you will get more than half of the capital. This is because your earnings are much less than your dh's therefore your mortgage capacity is lower, and also because you have to house the children as well as yourself.

It may be better for you to stay in the house on the basis that when the children have grown up, you will sell and your dh will get some of the equity. This may be as much as half if he carries on paying the mortgage, but is much more likely to be significantly less.

If that's what eventually happens, clearly there has to be money in place to pay your outgoings and that will depend on how much you get by way of tax credits, how much you can earn and what spousal maintenance you get for yourself (dh will pay you 25% of his net income for child mtce in any event). You may also be eligible for housing benefit to cover the first £100k of interest on your mortgage, however h.b. doesn't kick in until about 9 months after you make your claim.

If you have to/want to sell the house, you should get somewhere between 60% and 100% of the equity depending on a lot of factors including how much you need to rehouse, his needs, your earning capacity, his actual earnings, the contributions each of you made (you're considered to have made an = contribution because you have children), length of marriage, etc etc.

You'll also get a share of his pension and poss. any other assets, eg savings, endowments etc but that depends how much you get out of the house.

You may be entitled to legal aid (now called Public Funding). To find out, go to the eligibility calculator on the Legal Services Commission website.

Then, find yourself a local family law solicitor on the Resolution website. If you don't qualify for legal aid, most lawyers will offer you a free half hour's advice. After you've taken advice from someone who has all the facts of your individual circs, then you can decide whether you want to go ahead and either divorce or negotiate a separation deed, on the basis that you'll leave divorce on the back burner for a couple of years.

Hope this helps.

Hi Mumble - Thanks for your initial advise. I saw his solicitors letter and it said on there that I would likely recieve the equity in the house due to his earning capacity (60k plus a year) and therefore his abilty to get himself 100% mortgage. his solicitor also pointed out that in addition to maintenance he may be obliged to pay an additional payment towards any mortgage I secure? Is this right?

Yes. If you stay in your current house, he can be ordered to pay the mortgage, utilities, house insurance etc, and if you move, that will still apply.

Naughty, naughty girl for reading his letters!

even tho we are not married? madness - he must be mental - hope shes worth it!

The letter "fell" out of his briefcase - I didnt mean to read it in full and from cover to cover

I have got a form CLSMEANS1 to fill in, its asking for anything we have thats worth over £500 - thats most of the stuff in the house from the dining table to the TV - surely it doesnt mean all that?

Also, the CLSAPP3 form - should I be filling that in or my solicitor, she asked me to fill in as much as I can but I don't really know what I am doing!

I don't do legal aid anymore, ishe, but from memory, the means form has to state the second hand value of individual items, so if you have, say, a watch that cost £1k but is now worth less than £500 second hand, you don't need to include it. You don't include everyday furniture, but if you have valuable antiques, you do.

Just fill the other form in as much as you can and return it to your solicitor with a note explaining any blanks and she'll complete the rest.

Paying the mortgage etc doesn't count as spousal maintenance (which of course you're not entitled to), but as paying expenses for the benefit of the children.

Sorry for hijack, Sadmum.

Thanks mumble - appreciate all your help - also sorry for the hijack sadmum - but hopeful some of it might be of assistance to you.

i think all the benefits someone quoted further up this thread are right, except maybe the child tax credit will be a bit less than £120. i have 2 kids and i get £81 a week.

already posted on my thread but just in case muble has a watch on this one

well, his solicitor has written to mine to say he disputes that I even have a 50% claim on the house as I have not put as much as him towards it (hello - I have been bringing up our sons as agreed!) but that if i agree not to persue a claim on behalf of our sons he will give me 50% of he equity! Give me whats already mine in law! My names on the deeds, there was no declaration of trust between us where I agreed he had more share etc.

He is also saying he paid of debts for me in the past - they were joint debts! Not mine - he is also sayingthat he has credit card debt that needs to be paid off before the equity can be split!

I just cried when I heard this! How can he not want to provide for his sons? mumblechum - do I have any chance with this or shall I just roll over and play dead and walk away with 50% and my sanity? He knows I always choose the path of least resistance and is relying on that - horrible man