Universal Credit question

[CherryGarcia23]

How does UC work?

For example: A husband & father of 2 demanding children 50 / 50 so he doesn't have to pay any child maintenance, yet 'forgetting' to collect children from school, working late and not having children. Technically having his children once or twice per MONTH but claiming 50/50 which was agreed by the courts. Therefore he pays zero, and also has the children barely twice per month, so legally it's a 50 / 50, but in reality it's a 10 / 90

Mother told by the judge that father is doing his best ... and awards father awards 50 /50.

Mother has the children 90% and has the job of all wraparound care, school lunches and holiday clubs. Father has not seen children for 27 days to date, and has spent 10 of those Days on holiday with GF. Children didn't see father atall during the 6 week school holidays either.

Can Mother be truthful to UC about the situation, or will she be found out for claiming when 'legally' its a 50/50 arrangement?

Mother has no more money to go back to court. She gave all evidence of the children being left at school etc etc. Judge didn't care.

How many overnights does father do? If he does none then just claim that through CMS. Doesn’t matter what court awarded, they go by what is actually happening.

UC don’t take CMS into account anyway, so you don’t need to inform them. Whoever gets child benefit can have the children on their UC claim.

Put the CMS claim in today, and if he doesn’t want to pay he can take you back to court. You can represent yourself, so shouldn’t incur many costs.

Does the mother get child benefit?

I would say she is entitled to UC as she is the main carer for the children, if the father has already claimed for the children then it will be a competing claim and UC will decide who gets the money.

They don't generally ask to see custody arrangements, only if there is a competing claim.

Ex / father earns well over the £100k threshold so he will not be able to claim any child benefit or UC. Friend works full time but earns a fraction of her ex at £30k. Which doesn't go far with wraparound and holiday clubs.

judge doesn't get to decide if you can claim for cms or not. so although he's still allocating the father to opportunity to have the children fifty/fifty, gather all the evidence you need to show cms that he doesn't.
uc should be easy, as you just make a claim. they don't ask for evidence of how often you have the children. you just need their passports or birth certificates.

Yes she claims child benefit. She started claiming a while back as her husband refused to give her money for the children or herself. She started claiming before she went back to work and never stopped.

I have another friend who will find herself a very similar situation when she leaves her husband. There must be some sort of dickhead husband manual they read from?

Are both parents claiming UC?

Parents are expected to agree who, for benefit purposes, has responsibility for a child. It's a binary question. Universal Credit will pay the Child Responsibility Element to one parent or the other; they will not apportion it.

If the parents cannot agree who gets it then, like Child Benefit, it will go to a Decision maker to decide based on the evidence.

Maintenance is, for practical purposes, a separate subject on which I'm not that clued up, though child maintenance is disregarded as income in UC.

EDIT: Now read stuff posted while I was typing and it's clear that only Mum is claiming UC and that he's way over the threshold for CB. She gets CRE and CB for both and in full. I makes no difference to hom.

Sounds fairly simple. He has told her that he will say he pays her child maintenance in cash if he is ever questioned, he is going to long lengths to not pay for his children, or even look after them. Loser.

So if she goes to the CMS, he has to pay and won't effect her UC claim.

2nd friend in a month with a dodgy husband, and you'd never have thought it about him when we've met before.

Whether he pays maintenance or how is of no consequence so far as UC is concerend. It doesn't count as income; something was learned from the fiasco of Child Support #1.

'Starter for 10' her on how CM can be claimed etc:

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/family/children-and-young-people/child-maintenance1/

That'll be England, don't assume it's same in Scotland or NI.