Moving out

[bunniesmum]

Need some advice for a friend. She works part time at present and earns around £1100 per month. Things are not brilliant with her husband and she thought it might be a good idea to move out for a bit. She has found a rental property for herself and her 2 children. She wants to know if once she has payed £550 per month for rent, would it be feasible to live on the remainder of her salary. Once she was settled she would try to increase work hours to increase income. Her husband has had full financial control and she doesn't have any idea how much electric, water, council tax cost per month. Thanks

she needs to go on this website to see what financial help she can get

www.turn2us.org.uk/benefits_search.aspx

I would strongly recommend that, before she does anything, she gets advice from a solicitor specialising in family law about issues such as contact and division of marital assets in the event of a divorce. She might not be thinking divorce just yet but it never hurts to get the information. She will probably be advised not to leave the marital home unless it's totally necessary.

If she's still certain that leaving is the only way forward she'll need various things in order to make a reasonable go of it

1. Own bank account for salary, child benefit, tax credits and so on. (If her husband has 'full financial control' I'm assuming she doesn't have one)
2. Find out from the landlord of the rental property what the typical utility bills are.

3 Budget amounts for food, clothes, transport etc

1. Use the www.turn2us.org.uk benefits checker to see if she can apply for additional state help. It'll point her to how she can apply as a single parent once she isn't cohabiting any more.
2. CSA details so that her STBXH pays maintenance towards the children

I think she'll find she has more than £1100 a month to live on once she takes benefits into account. Wish her luck