LCWRA and child benefit

robertt

Hello. I'm receiving LCWRA. My son 8yo lives with me but his mother claims everything. I was told to make counter claim for child benefit directly with HMRC. However my question is..does HMRC child benefit application gets linked to UC? The last thing I want is to be rejected for child benefit and trigger LCWRA reassessment. 

robertt

Hello my son is 8yo . He stays with me 6 nights per week. His mother claims everything so far. I was about to send child benefit counter claim tomorrow but I have heard she has flat viewing (2 bed) this week. I don't know if this should be reported to council? At the end of the day my son is with me and she is viewing properties.

janer1967

She is still allowed to view properties and have 2 bed but if your son is living with you and that is his official address she will be subject to bedroom tax 

I suggest you get legal advice about making the fact he lives with you official 

janer1967

No it is not connected in anyway and won't trigger any assessment 

robertt

@janer1967 thank you. Is she legally entitled to it? I know people say "she should report changes". But it seems like with this child benefit people have problems all the time. Parents who don't have children living with them still claim everything without consequences. It's like whoever grabs it first!

janer1967

It should be the person that the child lives with majority of time that gets child benefit 

As your other post I suggest you get some legal advice from a family solicitor it may be worth getting a court order to detail who the child resides with 

Are you claiming the child element of uc or is she claiming that as well 

robertt

@janer1967 I'm not claiming anything. Solicitor adviced me to not go court since there's no arguments between the parents. Solicitor told me that I should apply for benefits and then see what happens. According to solicitor we have same legal standing unless there's court order in place. I don't know what she claims. Am going to put forward HMRC child benefit claim this week and take it from there 

poppy123456

She shouldn't be continuing to claim benefits for him if he's living with you.

robertt

@poppy i know. But there's nothing to make her stop it, no consequences. So only thing I can do is apply myself. She is ignorant to the point where yesterday evening she messaged me,if I could wake up my son because next morning she has flat viewing so it would be nice if she could take him with her for couple of hours. So yeah...Poppy.

poppy123456

If she's claiming help with any rent through either housing benefit or UC then she could also be claiming a bedroom for him, which she really isn't entitled to.

poppy123456

https://www.gov.uk/report-benefit-fraud

poppy123456

If you think she's commiting benefit fraud you can report her. https://www.gov.uk/report-benefit-fraud

robertt

@poppy123456 yes. That's why she wanted to scoop my son this morning so that she goes for viewing play Demsel in distress. 

robertt

@poppy123456 well i don't know to be honest. I ll look into it 

robertt

@poppy123456 hi . I'm about to send counter claim form. I was to that I should include additional letter which explains the situation about my son living with me. I know that you probably know better. Can I handwrite or it has to be typed? I don't have a PC and noone really to do it for me but at the same time I don't want HMRC people think that I don't care and am some kind of bum. Please advise me. 

poppy123456

You can hand write it, there’s no rules against this.

robertt

Thank you.

calcotti

Biblioklept said:

I'm pretty sure child benefit actually can be claimed by the non-resident parent as long as it's intended for the benefit of the child and you pay towards their upkeep of equivalent or more than the child benefit amount. 

That’s correct. 

https://www.gov.uk/child-benefit/eligibility

robertt

@calcotti I actually went for legal advice last week. Lawyer told me there's no such thing as resident parent unless there's legal document in place ie court order. Until then both parents have responsibilities with exactly same legal standing. I also asked if I needed residency order etc. I was told even if I wanted to, judge most likely wouldn't issue one because there's no disagreements between parents and my sons situation is inline with his wishes. The lawyer simply told me to make counter claim and attach letter to explain current situation. If however then my ex wanted to change current agreement,then I have all the rights to apply for residency order as at this point my exes motivations would have been seen as financial gain only. 

calcotti

I’ve never suggested any legal residency requirements are necessary in connection with benefits. If the parents cannot agree who a child normally resides with DWP (or HMRC for Child Benefit) will have to collect information and make a decision themselves.

robertt

@yes I understand. But there's no resident parent thing without legal document. There's is however unofficial ' primary carer' what it means is whoever cares for the child most at present time.