help with child payments

[kingboard]

good morning all .... i need a little help . ...
My girlfreind has just moved down from scottland and has come to live with me in london . she has two children and was reciveing houseing benefit and child tax credits . she has handed in the keys to council home when she moved last week . My questoin to you all is ....She has never had any money from the farther of the children and has all ways been paid by the goverment . Now that they are all living with me and i am paying for the house and all the bills .... will the money be removed for the childrens payments as they are living with me . the farther is no longer working so we would not recive any money from him or do i have to pay for every think ... kind regards for your replys

[sara3]

how has she been paid by the government? with Income Support?

[ummmm]

You as a family unit can claim tax credits...

How old are the children?

There is a calculator here...

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/taxcredits/index.htm

[redcrx]

she may be entitled to something, certainly she will still get child benefit if children under 17.

i suppose it will also depend on your own income. If the father hasnt a job then there will be little to come from him and that would be via the CSA. You mustve realised what you were going to have to take on and budget for before she moved in.

[kingboard]

tks for your help . yes i understand that i would have to pay that is not a problem , was just looking to c what help we could get , her payments had been income support , and i earn 40k plus so i think we wont get much help

[ummmm]

Can she get a job?

[daffy654]

If you find you can't manage on over 40k then maybe your girlfriend could look into getting a job as well.
I know of many families who manage on less than half of that.

[sara3]

if she's paid enough NI contributions and is able to look for work, she may be entitled to JSA. she also needs to look into the maintenance angle, even if he is on benefits. hopefully that won't be forever.

you won't get Working Tax Credits but may get Child Tax Credits.. in fact she is probably already receiving that but she needs to declare her new circumstances.

best of luck with your new set-up :o)

[ummmm]

40k in London is not the same as 40k in most other places...

[daffy654]

That's true I suppose ummmm.

[lotsafun]

me and my partner were in the same boat when i moved in with him. I had a son from a previous relationship whos father paid jackshite to. You will need to make a claim for tax credits jointly now based on your income. But in a word....yes you are kind of will be paying for everything but depending on your income you may be entitled to help with rent/ council tax etc

[anneasquith]

40k even london, and you want government help ?

[kingboard]

not sure why so many remarks about what i earn , all i was asking was what surport if any we would get or where intilted to. I wont what is best for my girlfreinds and her children , and as a tax payer was wondering what was available . Yes she will look for work and wonts to . not having children of my own i, was not sure on how the tax credits worked and if it would mean my tax code may change . I was not trying to get money for nothing just asking for help from other people who may have had a better understanding of the system

[anneasquith]

best place to start is your benefits advice centre.

[ummmm]

Did you look at the link I posted?

[kingboard]

yes tks . i did look at the link and it looks like that we would get about £400 per year in tax credits . So worth having as its what i have paid my tax for . Thanks for every body who helped with the questoin .

[ummmm]

If you're entitled to £400 per year you should also be entitled to free dental treatment, opticians, and prescriptions...