Benefits after marriage breakdown

[FHmama]

Hi all.

My (married) parents have recently split up due to my dad being a cheating, abusive a-hole. My mom is on a low wage and would be entitled to a top-up of universal credit which would massively help her especially now she needs to get her ducks in a row etc.

The only issue is they are still currently living together whilst they sort out the sale of the house/who's going to live where etc.

They have completely separate finances/bank accounts, they are definitely not getting back together, my mom has her own bedroom etc.

What are the rules for claiming UC in these circumstances?

Well it can be done but is a bit of a grey area. They would have to make sure everything is financially separated etc. I'm not sure how or if they check. Unless she is on a very low wage then it's unlikely she would get any UC anyway as she will have no housing costs of the claim. If she were to rent somewhere separately then she could claim rent element of UC and the maritial home would be disregarded for six months if the house is on the market. Once the home was sold then if her equity from it were over 16k she would not then be eligible for Uc. It may be disregarded if being put into the buying of another property.
Another consideration if claiming UC, is that if your mum works part time now and has no health conditions which limit her ability to work full time then she may be asked to look for full time work although in reality I'm not sure how much the work coaches reinforce this.
How close to retirement age is your mum. Does she currently have mortgage still to pay ?

The standard UC single element is almost £335. That is the only element she would be entitled to unless she has health conditions which limit her work and even then it can take months to be awarded a seperate element for that. Or does she have dependent children ? For each pound she earns, that £335 would reduce by 55p ( uness any dependents). So you should be able to work out whether she would get any UC.

She is on less than £16000 a year (full time) and has two dependant children so even without housing costs she is entitled to a top-up of universal credit.

She is only early 40s. We already know how much universal credit she is entitled to (roughly) it's just confusing to whether she's actually allowed to claim it given her current living situation.

Yes there's still mortgage to pay. My father has always covered that payment but obviously both their names are on the house.

It's just so confusing. Seems like a very grey area even though they live completely separate lives as such.

Sorry just one other thing I forgot to mention. If she is able to claim UC and she has been in an abusive relationship, then I think she can possibly be exempt from further work searching. She would need to let the work coach know she has been in an abusive relationship. Also check whether she would be eligible for a discount on her half of the council tax liability, it again will depend on wages.

Aah ok yes the dependent will make a difference. has she seen a solicitor, that really would and should be the first step as she may be able to stay in the property with having dependent children. Like I said if the house is sold, she could end up with more than 16k equity and any entitlement to UC would completely stop so it may be in her best interests to try to stay in the property. It can be done to claim separately, but she needs to be prepared to prove everything is separate, that they don't cook together, share meals, food shopping, are completely financially separate etc.
I would strongly advice she speaks to a solicitor and Citizens advice or womens aid who will have vast experience of these type of situations and best able to advise. Hope things work out for her. Like I said before if she claims UC, then she must let them know she is fleeing an abusive relationship. it may alter how they view things, and they are likely to be more accomodating.