Financial support/benefits to help with mortgage/rent after separation/divorce

[Jfh18]

Hi everyone,

Myself and my partner are divorcing. We have a young son and currently live together in a home with a joint mortgage.
I am hoping to find out if anyone knows what financial support I could be entitled to that would either allow me to stay in the house and pay the mortgage myself or help me afford to rent a property on my own. We will share custody of our son, so will both need to be able to afford a one/two bedroom property.
I cannot afford to pay the mortgage on my own, nor pay for a rental property on my own without financial support and neither will my partner. Unfortunately staying together is not an option at this point even though financially it would be the best thing to do. It is in the interests of ourselves and our son that we separate, but we really can't afford to live apart without help. If anyone has been through something similar or has any advice I would love to hear your thoughts/suggestions. Thanks x

Benefits won’t pay towards your mortgage repayment amount. If you are on certain benefits you can get a loan for the mortgage interest after a certain time on those benefits - link here give info:

www.turn2us.org.uk/Benefit-guides/Support-for-Mortgage-Interest/What-is-Support-for-Mortgage-Interest

If you are renting a property you can get help towards the cost of rent through the housing element of Universal Credit. This is means tested, so your actual entitlement will depend on your income.

how many hours do you both work?

Do you work ? if you want to stay in the house you would either need to get some kind of court order allowing you to stay there or you would need to buy your ex out and re- mortgage on your own which you are unlikely to be able to do unless you work. You could look at benefits to rent , the main one would be Universal credit, but depending how much equity you have in the house you may not get anything , although a house that is on the market to be sold can be disregarded for a length of time ( 6 months I think) and during that time UC would help with renting somewhere. What does your husband want to do - can he buy you out of the house ? Either way I think you need to consult a solicitor to come to an agreement regarding how assets are split.

My partner is contracted to 45 and I'm working two days (16 hrs) post maternity leave, I was full time before having our son.

Ok so perhaps try to work out if you can afford your half of the mortgage with your wages + benefits ( online calculators will give you an idea) + child maintainence. You need to speak with your ex to see what he is prepared to pay / do.

You say you'll share custody, does this mean one week on/off, or 3 nights/4 nights?

If so, you'll need to decide who claims CB and therefore the other benefits that can be claimed on this basis. If your oh is going to have shared custody, will he be reducing his working hours and will you be increasing yours? How will this work?