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marriage split

MLogan
MLogan Community member Posts: 8 Listener
Hi everyone,My son has chronic Asthma and major allergies which seriously effects him.His marriage has broken down they dont own there house is rented from a housing asst.Im wanting advice on his rights im sure he would be classed as a vulnerable adult??? im worried sick he will be made homeless with out any rights.The tenancy for there house is a joint tenancy.be happy for any advice regarding this matter.Thank you

Comments

  • Sam_Alumni
    Sam_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 7,671 Disability Gamechanger
    Hi @MLogan does your son claim any benefits for his impairments? Is he working? 

    Can you explain a little more? His marriage has broken down, so is it his ex asking him to leave the property or the housing association?

    How does his asthma and allergies make him vulnerable?
    Scope
    Senior online community officer
  • MLogan
    MLogan Community member Posts: 8 Listener
    At the moment he is still in the marital home,they are on benefit as a family,he gets DLA low rate he is ready to look into pip.As a family they claim ESA,child tax credit,housing benefit,and get child benefit.They live in a housing asst flat and its a joint tenancy.His Asthma is very bad and has been on medication since two years old,as a child he was only alergic to cats if near one eyes would swell and shut and always admitted too hospital,now his allergic to so many things he has lost jobs because of it,last job he had was for a tesco store,he had a reaction too the chemicals they use to clean the fridges his face swells and he has an all over persistent itches where he actually will use a fork to scratch with,he has skin slipage from his face and then looks like hes been in a fire,and has been admitted to hospital a few times where he has to be given antibiotics.It stops him from going out,he wont go and collect his daughter from school in case he scares the other children,he wont go out as people stare at him its awful.I dont no much about the housing law but im worried for him they are trying to make things as amical as possible,at the moment He sleeps on the sofa downstairs his wife is upstairs,but dinner time,homework time they are both involved with.Im just asking for a rough idea of his rights.Obviously im trying not to get involved myself and my heart is praying they can sort things out but its very unlikely.I would be grateful for any advice.Thank You
  • mossycow
    mossycow Scope Member Posts: 500 Pioneering
    Am so sorry to hear your situation. 

    I'm not an expert at all, but my husband works with those in the situation you are worried about. I've asked him and he suggests your son calls his local authority as soon as possible. They will advice of his exact rights and help him. If he has an emergency out of hours my husband days to Google '<where he lives > borough council out of hours emergency number' etc. 

    My husband works in emergency accommodation. So there is a stop gap between homelessness and new housing etc. 

    So hard for you as his Mum. In terms of him picking up his daughter, I can empathise as I have a wheelchair and I felt bit weird picking her up in my big, noisy tank! People looked the first day.... Some asked questions.... Kids pressed my buttons heeheee... But honest it was. Old news very quickly. 

    Hard I know but his face is probably the last thing a load of busy stressed parents are thinking about! But easier said than done. 
  • MLogan
    MLogan Community member Posts: 8 Listener
    Thank you for your kind words,im very grateful for your advice too,going to be a long bumpy road ahead but in life there are so many people with bigger problems.Thank You again.

  • Sam_Alumni
    Sam_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 7,671 Disability Gamechanger
    He could also look to get in touch with The Law Centre to see if they can help?
    Scope
    Senior online community officer
  • Debbie_Alumni
    Debbie_Alumni Community member Posts: 932 Pioneering
    Hi @MLogan,

    There's some good information about Relationship breakdown on Shelter's website. From there you can find out about your son's rights regarding the current joint tenancy. You should also see the information from Shelter about Homelessness. Housing Law is very complicated and this type of situation involves other areas of law such as family law. This means that the whole process becomes much more complex. It's not likely to be an easy journey and it's really difficult to get legal advice since the cuts to legal aid.

    Other things to take into consideration are the impact of changes to the family benefits. 
    Your son is already aware of PIP and that's good. If he hasn't already received his letter inviting him to claim PIP, it's quite likely that this invite will be triggered if he rings DLA to inform them of a change of address.

    We also need to start preparing for Universal Credit (UC) which is replacing six means tested benefits (I refer to these later on as legacy benefits). Universal Credit isn't available everywhere at the moment but it's rolling out and there are several full service areas across the country now. The rollout process is picking up pace with more areas becoming full service. You can check the UC transition Rollout schedule to see when your area will be affected. The DWP is expected to start migrating existing legacy benefit claimants onto UC starting from 2019. Those that are part of the 'managed migration' will have transitional protection so that they're not worse off under UC.

    If an existing legacy benefit claimant has a change in circumstances which would trigger a new claim for UC and they live in a full service UC area, they have to apply for UC and they do not have transitional protection, therefore if a claimant is likely to lose out under UC, that reduction would be immediate. The idea of transitional protection is to allow the claimant time to adjust to the reduction in benefits and it usually tapers off over a period of years. 

    At the helpline we've spoken to dozens of people who have been caught up in some very complex situations regarding UC. There are also the other more well known problems like waiting weeks for a first payment, monthly payments, sanctions and so on. I fear that we haven't even begun to see the full horrors of Universal Credit. 

    Universal Credit was designed to simplify the benefits system. Its implementation has and continues to be incredibly complicated. UC simplifies the benefits system but you cannot simplify people's circumstances and complex living situations. You can't simplify health conditions or disability. You can't simplify the battles that disabled people have in finding and staying in work, accessing housing and living an independent life with some element of financial security.

    Sorry to have gone off on a tangent with the benefits side of things but these things all go hand in hand and impact on each other.

    Do let me know if you need any further advice and please share our details with your son if he wants to contact us directly.

    Best wishes
    Debbie

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