Paying rent during separation

[Helpmehelpmyfriendplease]

I’ve posted before trying to help my friend who is in an abusive relationship and mumsnet has been helpful in giving advice because I have no idea how things work.

Short story. History of coercive control. He’s made her world smaller and smaller and now she’s pushed back (metaphorically). He’s thrown his toys out of his pram and asked for a divorce. Not the worst thing, given the history.

The plan was for them to co-habitat in their rental home until the divorce came through. Coercive control continued as they tried to discuss finances and how to file etc. he did not permit her to include all her current expenses in her budget.

He has now chosen to leave the rental house. (I think this was always his plan).

He has always been responsible for paying the rent. He earns 3 times her salary and he was always wanting to be the man who provides as a way of control.

Now that he has left, who is responsible for the rent?

my friend cannot afford the rent on her own. She’s been advised to not leave by the council as she’’ll have intentionally made herself homeless. if she can’t afford the rent and is evicted, she’s concerned this will affect her next rental.

in England. longish marriage. She works full time but low wage. In the south, so money doesn’t go far.

its always LTB, but how financially?

Whose name is on the tenancy?

Both

Is she eligible for any benefits - is she claiming everything she is entitled to now her circumstances have changed? She might be entitled to support with her rent, and top up to her wages. Are there any shared children living with her - if yes, is she getting maintenance from him? There are calculators for both online where she can check her entitlement.

When is the tenancy up? Can she speak to citizens advice re getting him to pay some of the rent as both names are in the tenancy (I'm not sure if this is possible, but can't hurt to ask)? Can she afford to rent somewhere smaller/cheaper on her own with relevant benefits once the tenancy is up? If she can, I wonder whether it is worth moving to somewhere affordable- she will have to eventually.

It sounds like they're married. If they are: Can she apply for legal aid due to domestic abuse, so she gets legal advice re the divorce? Can she apply for an interim financial order, for example, to get money while the divorce is going through? She may be entitled to spousal support, and would be entitled to at least half of any savings and pension, regardless if they're in his sole name.

There's normally decent advice on wikivorce. Even talking to AI like Claude/ChatGPT can give some ideas/starting points, although you do need to fact check.

I'm sure some lovely mn ladies will come soon with more advice.

I’ve suggested she apply for universal credit now he has left the home. Unbelievably, she couldn’t seem to apply for so it so she could leave. Also suggested to get the single occupancy council tax reduction so long.

They are married. Trying to get her to apply for legal aid. It’s not straightforward and English isn’t her first language.

she knows she has to move. But they have a two month notice period. I’m sure the landlord won’t have trouble renting it again - but she needs time to line the next place up. Trying to find somewhere affordable is difficult. No kids.

interim financial order sounds like a good shout. Will need to look that up.

I’m pretty nervous that shes going to end up with half of his debt.

@Helpmehelpmyfriendplease

Not sure I understand the statement about your friend being unable to get Universal Credit so she could leave.

Can you expand?

If it is a joint tenancy, they are both liable for the whole of the rent, unless the tenancy agreement says otherwise ( eg some student lets).
What assets are there? If he is a high earner, presumably there are savings and he will have a pension. She will be entitled to some of that unless it is a very short marriage, so she needs to establish what those are.
Maybe she could use that as leverage for him to continue to pay the rent for a set amount of time while she looks for somewhere smaller/ cheaper.
She should probably give notice and leave herself, otherwise, as you suggest, she will end up with a reference that adversely affects her ability to rent in the future. I’m saying this because although technically the council may have obligations to her which will only trigger if she is not intentionally homeless, the chances are as a single person she will not be high on the housing list. It varies depending on the area, but she needs to find out how likely the council are to rehouse her even if she fulfilled all the criteria.
I suspect the reality is that she will not be rehoused by the council, so she needs to make sure that she does get a decent tenancy reference from the current landlord.
I think she should give notice, and get herself a second job temporarily somehow to make up the shortfall. Maybe start selling off furniture etc if she can’t take it with her. She could use the money from that to pay the rent.

It seems like because she was still living with her husband, and because their joint income was high, she wouldn’t qualify so could not do the application in advance of her leaving.

I know this is to prevent people abusing the system and preventing benefit fraud, but it’s tricky.

If they're estranged but living together by force of circumstance and live separate lives eg money, food etc is all individual then she can claim as a single person.

Not helpful if they've now split though.

Meant to add to ask her age as this is relevant to help she'll get with rent under UC.

I claimed UC whilst still cohabiting but separated.

Mid 40s.

it’s really sad because she falls into the earning category where in her area, it’s simply not enough to support herself so her only option is going to be to move away from what little moral support she has.

@Helpmehelpmyfriendplease in that case she'd get the LHA rate for a one bed self contained property.

Thanks for the link @Bromptotoo