Primary school application - address issues

[PiscesLondon]

Hi,

In a real panic here & would really appreciate some advice.

Split with DD's father about 5 months ago & temporarily moved back home to my mother. I say temporarily as my mother's house was up for sale, she is moving to the other end of the country. Anyway it has sold much quicker than I imagined it would and I need to be out of there before 20th January. I purposely delayed the school application as I didn't know where I'd be living at the time.

DD's father is a good guy, we have remained friendly and it's thankfully all very amicable. Neither he, nor I want to reconcile for many reasons, but he has very generously said I can move in with him until I'm on my feet. I will pay him keep, same as I paid my Mum, it won't be much (around £30 per week) I can't afford my own place at the moment, I'd struggle, I work part time & I'm also a part time student. I finish my studies in June and would aim to be working full time and have my own place by September/October, so this would most definitely be a temporary arrangement. I would probably stay around the same area as ex is in, wouldn't be more than a couple of miles away, I grew up in the area and it's lovely, ideal to bring DD up in.

Anyway, here's what is worrying me -

Is it all above board to use this temporary address even though I know it's only temporary? Do i tell the LA it's temporary? What if I can't find a house in the same catchment area once I'm working full time?

Also, ex will have to add us on council tax bill & I'll have to inform tax credits/child benefit that my address has changed, surely they'll stop my money as they'll assume ex & I have reconciled? I seriously cannot afford to lose my tax credits, I couldn't live. HMRC obviously know he lives at the address, as he has his tax returns & NI bills sent there. Would they look into it when I changed my address?

Would it be better for ex to say he'd moved out & I was moving in? It just seems like loads of hassle to do that as I'd have to change the bills over to my name etc... And I won't be living there long.

I just need to get the school application done ASAP & I don't know what to do!

Sorry can't really help you with tax credit , child benefit situation. However as far as admissions are concerned, the key point is that your address is the address that you and child are living at on the 15th Jan, which is the cut off date for on-time applications.
You are expecting to be at that address for a period of time, which is likely to be september or october at least.
Whilst I can see that it is easy for the LA to think that something may be going on - moving to ex to gain place at good local school is the obvious thought - if you are being honest and you do move to this address before the 15th Jan, then you are doing the right thing as far as applying for a school place is concerned.
It might be useful to come up with some written arrangement with ex about living in the house till september which can be waved at the LA admission people if necessary - I would not volunteer the information. However this may have implications as far as tax credit etc is concerned, so you need to take some advice before committing to paper.

Thank you admission I'm going to start moving from next week so will be there before cut off. I'm not too worried about LA as surely they aren't going to know how long I've lived there? all they'll know is my child benefit is there & I'm on the council tax form, they don't ask how long I've been living there on the online application.

It's the tax credit situation that is really worrying me. I know it's wrong and untrue but I would feel better asking ex to pretend he's moved back to his mum's and asking him to inform council tax & HMRC of his "move" because they won't assume we've reconciled then?

Would Tax Credits know that your new address is that of your ex though?

Thank you tiggytape I cross posted with you. So once I move from ex's in September/October time & obviously inform council tax etc... of this will it look suspicious? I didn't think the council tax would inform the LA?

Hi soupdragon well he doesn't claim tax credits, although we claimed jointly a couple of years ago but that was at a different address. Ex moved to this address when he & I split 5 months ago. He is self employed and is no longer eligible (I think) for tax credits, but HMRC know his address for tax returns/NI purposes.

I didn't think the council tax would inform the LA

You pay Council Tax to the LA so they know of any changes. Your application will probably be checked against Council Tax records.

The LA can't take away the place just because you are living somewhere else in September/October. But yes, it may look suspicious if you move then. The LA may think you moved there just to get a place if he is in catchment for a popular school and your new address would not have got a place at that school. Having a written arrangement with your ex as Admission suggests may help. Similarly the facts of your case will help - living with your mother, returning to your ex's home when your mother moves away from the area then moving to somewhere of your own is not typical behaviour of someone trying to gain a place fraudulently.

With regard to WTC/ CTC I beleive that it is still ok for you to be living with an ex and claiming as a single person. I know when I split with my DH they were able to start the single claim from the date we broke up rather than the date he moved out.
A key thing may be to do with how you conduct your financial affairs -whether they are separate or joint. I work in Housing benefit and this is one of the key things we would look at when deciding if a couple are actually together or not though I guess tax credit rules may be different.

Tell tax credits office that you are 'lodging temporarily' with the father of your child and see what they say regarding claiming as a single person

It doesn't matter one jot what the wisdom of mn thinks, its not us that will be done for benefit fraud having to explain themselves after the fact