OKAY!!!! Well here goes and please note this is all true and any advice on any of it would be greatly appreciated.
I am a separated dad of two girls aged 9 and 14 I left my wife 4 years ago but have not done anything regarding a divorce as of yet. I have for the last 4 years had my girls 50 percent of the time and because of this we mutually agreed not maintenance was to be paid by either party. This was all well and good until just prior to Lockdown I discovered that my ex has been without hot water in their home for over a year!!! I found this out through a mutual friend who also informed me that my ex would be moving into her new partners home which she did two days before lockdown. This in effect is fine because it is literally round the corner from my house. I have been told my this mutual friend that my ex also has been granted a mortgage holiday and is still claiming benefits such as tax credits and the child benefit for the last 3 months while co habiting with her new partner. NOW the problem for me is over the last 3 months I have had the girls on average 70% of the time and she is not interested (she is also an alcoholic and her new partner owns a pub!) The girls are now asking when they are going home but I have said they can't go home without access to hot water (Oh and also there is currently no electric there either) I have messaged their mum telling her in no uncertain terms i will not allow this but she has said to the youngest that she is getting the electric fixed and they are going back. What do I do? Plus I am currently furloughed and no idea when I go back to work and the whole situation is just ridiculous she doesn't do anything with the girls when they arent with me she just drinks and drinks with her new fella and those two girls are my life and i cant allow her to take them back to what is effectively a house that is in great disrepair. I am struggling financially while she has a mortgage break and still getting some benefits and she only has them two nights a week. ANY ADVICE WELCOME