Tax Credits querie.

[SparklePrincess]

My ex ended our relationship 5 months ago now but was still (unbearably) staying at the house a few nights a week until about 5 or 6 weeks ago. The bills etc still go out from the joint bank account & I buy food petrol etc with a credit card which also gets paid automatically. Problem is H is now spending money like water & were heading towards going over our 1k overdraft limit this month unless he curbs this. He even refuses to give his new address to council tax, so they wont give me 25% discount.

Im now seriously worried about our future finances & cutting down on spending for food etc. Dd has a huge bill for music lessons which I simply cant pay without sending the account further & further into debt.

I dont currently work, but am looking for something, & we get £39 a month Tax Credits based on H`s salary. Would it be possible for me to now get my Tax Credits re assessed despite the fact that his money is still coming in? Would his contribution towards bills be classed as a maintenance payment & disregarded? Or are we pretty much stuffed?

If your partner is no longer living with you, you MUST call Tax Credits & update them, this is one of the changes that you must notify within a month.

Call them asap, they'll reassess you as a single claimant, and end your joint claim.

Try and separate your finances if you at all can, for your own sake. xxx

i had this, I had to put all the bills in my name (utilities, telephone, sky etc) before they would recognise me as "single" - he wouldnt give me an address so I told TC people I thought he was at his parents and gave them that one. They did not query the mortgage being paid by the joint account as they saw that as maintenance.

Go to the bank, tell them the situation and open your own account asap - tell tax credits now - it took them months to be satisfied I wasnt lying, I had to provide copies of everything, but they evenutally agreed and back paid me from the DATE i had informed them - which was enough to pay off of the credit cards that I had had to use while I waited. Good luck - any questions feel free

You won't be able to claim if you're not working at least 16 hours a week.

If you have responsibility for children you'll still have some eligibility regardless of work.

try this

If you ex's salary is still going into the account then they wont see this as maintenance but that you still have joint finances.

You need to separate everything financially to be abe to claim as a single person. Bear in mind if you dont work and will claim IS you can only keep £10 of any maintenance, the rest goes to the DWP.

You'll only get CTC if not working.

So what should I do? Ive already applied for my own bank account & plan to transfer Tax Credits & Child Benefit to that. If I then remove my name from the joint account will that be good enough? Problem is he refuses to admit to the fact he is living elsewhere. His solicitor has advised him to do this.

You need to remove your name from te joint account before it hits the red otherwise the bank wont let you as you are both responsible for the account whilst its in joint names.

As long as you have an address for him, give it to rax credits regardless of what he refuses to tell people.

Ideally, you need to remove yourself from the account and then work out if your going to work, live on the maintenance or go on benefits. If you have a mortgage you need to ensure the payments are met after you leave the joint account if its in joint names.

He refuses to even tell me where he is living, despite the fact that he takes the dc there. Apparently I have no legal right to this information.