Toad's Solicitor phoned me at home unannounced after hours this evening

[Karenthetoadslayer]

I thought this would call for a new thread.

As I was preparing the children's dinner, the phone rang and guess who it was? Toad's solicitor, to have a chat about contact.

I am a friendly and polite person, also was in shock, so I complied and explained to him the children's views on their father.

DS thought I was 'cool'. .

You never know what will happen at the moment.

Ring up about the Child Tax Credits. I was the same, they can do it for the year coming up, can do it over the phone.

Quite BoomBoom. I don't really mind about the installments, it's the least of my problems. While we are in the house, cold showers or not, at least we are in a secure place. While he pays some of it every month, him being Toad, I am not going to make a fuss.

Really, Spiritualknot? They sent me a pack of forms for the previous tax year after I had waited on the phone line for over half an hour. I will phone in again first thing tomorrow morning. Did you receive Child Tax Credits in the end?

We had this too. I rang them and they updated to the new info.

You can leave it until the end of the year and update but whenever our circumstances changed, either up or down in income, I rang them as it meant that I wouldnt have an over payment at the end of the year.

Is there an area where you can put "other information" and put down your current details?

They do it like that as you can say for definite what you earned last year, and base the payments on that. They do say that if you base it on this years projected earnings and you dont update if they change then you could end with an overpayment. They will sort it. We did get CTC in the end and it was quite a bit higher than I thought.

Yes I did. I'd been on a high salary the previous year, but they work out what you anticipate you'll earn for this year and add £2500 on (for some reason). It gives me just over £250 a month (one child), so is really useful, also dd now has free school meals and school bus as a result of getting Child Tax credits.

My understanding on dividends (see attached is that dividends are not automatically taken into account, but can be via a 'variation'. I would assume you would need to prompt them on the variation calculation.

There are Government online calculators, anonymous, to see what you're entitled to.

taxcredits.hmrc.gov.uk/Qualify/DIQHousehold.aspx

There's other calculators around that also look at council tax reduction, though any entitlement to Child tax credits may make you exempt anyway? No sure off hand.

www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/benefits-check

This one is quite good as you put in what u got last year, but then it asks whether you will be getting less in the current year and calculates from there.

what we had to do was apply using the previous year's income, wait to be turned down, then ring up and change the income details. No idea why they wouldn't do it in one single process, but hey, it's a govt. body, so it has to be as complicated as possible.

Popping in to agree that the tax credits are normally calculated on the previous tax year but you can apply for them and then adjust your circumstances if there has been a change.

Just be aware though, they base the predicted calculation for this tax year on your current income/ benefits e.g. JSA, as if you are going to claim JSA for the whole year , despite the fact you may well be working before April. We got tax credits for a period of 4 months when dh was made redundant and despite reporting as soon as dh got back into work we ended up having to pay back a big chunk at the end of the year, as the TC aren't designed to cope with people getting another job.

Wow, thank you all.

Re Child Tax Credits: So I just phone them and explain that I do not anticipate any earnings until the end of the tax year? According to the calculator, this would give me extra £40 per week this tax year, which will of course be useful.

Did you have to do this recentlyLeaping? I may have to do the same thing, because I only received a form for the previous year. If this is the case, the best thing to so is consequently, do the same and send it off tomorrow, get turned down and ring up.

I have applied to the council and they got back to me with a few more questions, but I have answered these and will bring in the missing documents tomorrow.

Thank you Spiritual I have done several calculators now, all with the same result, so I am making progress.

Tbh I was in a bit if a shock, when Toad revealed that he has no intentions to pay anything towards the children, whereas before he confirmed that he would buy a house and pay CM. Why am I even surprised.

Thank you caroldecker I was surprised that dividends are not automatically taken into account, but I have now printed off his recent financial disclosure. Do I wait for the assessment to come back and then apply for the variation? Will I receive a copy of the assessment?

You can apply for variation now - and is probably best to as it is not always fully back-dated - CAB link

Can't remember if this has been mentioned before but if you were on PAYE this tax year, you probably have a tax refund due to you as they calculate assuming you will earn the same all year - here

Carol you're a star.

Done the tax checker. Apparently I paid way too much tax. So I just phone them and ask for a tax refund?

Just realised Karen, have you got the discount on your council tax? If you are the only adult you pay less.
And, some water companies will give you a flat rate (called Aquacare here) if you are a sole adult with two or more children.

Also - a long shot, but you may possibly be eligible for a Warm Home Discount (one off payment against energy bills). Every energy company does their own scheme slightly differently but if you are on means tested benefits or on a low household income you might be entitled.

example

I currently receive 25% council tax discount! but apparently I can get an exemption and this is what I am now applying for.

'Warm Home Discount' sounds great. Will take a look. Immediately.

Thank you all.

Hi Karen. Also remember that Toad can say what he likes about what is and isn't going to happen - it's all so much hot air, as it won't be him deciding- it'll be the judge. That's what court is about.

My link says what you need to do - if you get JSA, you need to go thorough the benefits office

Karen, I've been following your story since the beginning

Sounds to me that there are three totally unrelated things going on for you:

1. redundancy and other work-related stuff. Your redundancy payment should be a lump sum, and you should be paid for any outstanding holidays, too. You should also expect a tax refund for the overpaid tax, which will have been calculated on the assumption that you would be working for all of the financial year (April to April). I think this may only be refunded after you fill in an annual tax return, or may happen naturally once your P45 paperwork is with the tax man*, or once your JSA claim goes through.

• I realise that this may not yet have happened, but it will have to eventually. The HMRC frowns very hard at employers who don't do their employee tax records promptly and accurately. Goal-able offences, too.

2. State support for those unemployed - this is your JSA. Being entitled to this automatically entitles you to other benefits, such as council tax benefit, children's tax credit and housing benefit. JSA may be different if you have savings, but redundancy payments up to £10,000 plus seem not to count. Of course, you should be getting child benefit, too, which is not the same as child tax credit.

3. CM - this is an independent payment, not based on any of your income (including your redundancy payment), but on the non-resident spouse's income, for the maintenance of children. It is separate to any contact arrangements, or any other financial arrangements.

If you have all the appropriate benefits and the CM, you should be able to afford (some sort of) housing. As you weren't married, there's also a separate fight about if you're entitled to a share of the house and/or extra money to pay the mortgage - but those aren't legal requirements. If there is still a mortgage outstanding (and I know you're not on the deeds), then not paying it reflects on Toad and Toad alone - he's the one who's credit will be affected.

Its hard, because you are fighting Toad on two counts (1. and 3.), at the same time as finding your way through the minefield of the benefits system. On this last one, in my experience, the main thing to remember is - if you don't hear from someone for a couple of weeks, then chase them up, because there's every chance they've 'lost' the paperwork. Keep a copy of anything you send anywhere for any reason, names of people you talk to on the phone, and dates with notes about what was said.

Also, I agree with mineofuselessinformationabout fraudulent trading.

You're doing a brilliant job of getting through it, and standing firm and I'm convinced you'll get there in the end.

You are getting so much good advice on here.

I totally agree that you must keep chasing people in the system. BUT hopefully that can feel very different (emotionally) to fighting Toad. You can sort of treat it like making sure they haven't cocked up your phone bill. Bit of a bureaucratic nightmare, bit draining, but not emotionally abusive.

That is what I meant by letting them taken care of it. Once you are dealing with an institution, then all your professional instincts can kick in. Patiently wade your way through forms and computer systems, and it will all get sorted.

What I meant a while back was use your energies to fight Toad via the official channels and just don't bother communicating with him at all Yes you have to chase up the authorities , just be pleasant ask what you need to do next etc. and don't be afraid to chase them up to ensure your paperwork doesn't get lost in the system.

If/when Toad makes you all homeless (it could happen) then your local council housing department do have an obligation to help sort things out. Whether you choose to move into rented or have to then you will be entitled to housing benefit to pay all or some of the rent. It would be worth speaking to your local council now to explain the situation and see what help they do offer. Ours did a rent deposit scheme, they would confirm that you'd be entitled to a 3 bed property and what the maximum rent they will pay up to for a 3 bed property.

Hi all,

I keep wading through the system.

crabby you are correct. Job and CM are not being dealt with by the family court and therefore I must tackle these two matters separately and be careful with this. Think twice, save drafts and email over the day after.

I have announced to the children that we will stay in the house until it is sold. Initially there was a lot of interest and lots of viewings, but this could just have been the agent's existing clients who they phoned up. No more viewings since.

I will change strategy if an interested buyer turns up. He can't get us out end he can't get back in. If he wants us to move out, he will have to provide a suitable alternative. He is not doing that, so we stay put. Happy Christmas, Toad.

The children appreciate that this is the safest place for us, the house is the main asset and he is not going to default on the mortgage. It can't be helped.

Chasing:

CMS and ask about procedure regarding variation order.
HMRC regarding Child Tax Credits and send off last year's form anyway
Council: Bring in missing paperwork.

Praying: That HSB will represent me (against the odds)

Random @ 'be pleasant'.

Yes, if the house gets sold it could happen that we have nowhere to go, but only if Toad has nowhere to go. He cannot throw his children out. So, yes, if the bank acquire the house, we will have to face this. God knows. In this case we will definitely not denied my plan B which is my emergency application to leave the country.

I am going to put a board up in the kitchen with a battle plan.

Front A: Keep money coming in and chase agencies
Front B: CMS
Front C: ACAS
Front D: Toad (re house and settlement via court)
Front E: Job hunt and keep an eye on JSA obligations