Loan Parent & Maintenance Question

Irish Lassy

I am a single mom of 1 and i need to get my own place as things are getting crowded at home with the folks....

Would i be waiting long for rent allowance, how do i go bout getting this and i work part-time and get maintenance....would i be entitled to much rent allow....

Any comments please...
xx

Limerick area

User21027

For someone to qualify for One Parent Family, if they were married, they have to show they are making efforts to obtain maintenance from their ex spouse. This is often in the form of a maintenance summons from the district court. If they were never married, they do not have to provide this proof at the time of application, and will be paid without it, however it may be requested later, and Maintenance Recovery Section will pursue this.

<State Benefits Mod Hat now off>[/quote]

I was on OPF payments for many years on and off- and though asked for his address, it was never persued. i didnt have it, but he lived local, and hid it well,m moving every time i got close. I got paid like clockwork and he never had to pay a penny back. They were not interested in tracking him through the revenue - cos he DID work.

Just saying.... It sounds a bit scary. My point is- they dont always follow it up.

User21027

.... we were never married and they DID ask at the time of the application.

margaretta

I an new to this, so please bare with me, i have 2 children by a partner of 13 years, i an separated from him for 10 years and he pays me 70 a week for 2 of the kids a week, he works as a electrical spervisor and i have 211weekly to live on, i have gone for a change in the amont i get so can anyone tell me how mch i shold be looking for,,. i have never asked for a lot, the kids get no xmas or birthday presents, they havent seen him in 7 years and he does not involve himself in their life at all, please advise me, as the car is abot to be lifted, im in arrears on the concil hose, the kids cost me a bomb going back to school, which he didnt give me anything for and i dont know what to do, i have a solicitor that told me my partner offered me 50e each so a hndred a week for two, bt i know in my hearts of hearts he can afford a lot more... the cortcase is this wednesday, do i take the offer and rn or what will i get in cotr, does it depend on his statement of means and what is the max i can get per child...thank ye, by the way this laptop is banjaxed and only some of the keys work!!!!

Nevyn

Have you checked to see if you are entitled to FIS?
If you weekly income is that low you should be entitled to it.

The Department of Social and Family Affairs calculates your assessable income and your average income over a certain period of time.

If you are paid weekly or fortnightly, your weekly income is taken as your average weekly earnings over four weeks. If you are paid monthly, your average weekly income is based on your average weekly earnings in a set two-month period. If your spouse or partner is self-employed, his or her income over the 12-month period before you lodge your claim is used to work out his or her average weekly income.

Again, to qualify, your net average weekly family income must be below a certain amount for your family size.
FIS income limits in 2009:
From January 2009, if you have: And your family income is less than:
One child €500
Two children €590

It's important to be aware, that no matter how little you may qualify for, you will still get a minimum of €20 each week.

Please go talk to your local welfare officer there are other things you should be claiming for as well. As for the court case, it is up to yourself, sometimes a court mandated order is what it takes.

margaretta

To get fis i have to work for 20 hors and i dont, if my ex gets 5000 at least a month how mch wold i get in cort when all i get is 211e a week

Nevyn

There is no way of knowing what the judge will decide, best thing you can do it get legal advice on the matter.

mccarthy

my childs father gets 600 euro a week after tax and is paying maintance of 100 euro a week to me since my daughter was born 9 months ago. now he wants to reduce this to 70 a week. he takes our daughter to his place ovenight once a week and all day onece a week.

should i go to court??

how much do u think he should pay??

sickpuppy32

mccarthy wrote: »

my childs father gets 600 euro a week after tax and is paying maintance of 100 euro a week to me since my daughter was born 9 months ago. now he wants to reduce this to 70 a week. he takes our daughter to his place ovenight once a week and all day onece a week.

should i go to court??

how much do u think he should pay??

I wouldn't go to court but i'd see if he'd be willing to split the difference 85 a week. If he's paid monthly he might like to pay a lump every month rather than weekly -
Also you could ask him to occasionally buy the child stuff she needs now and again, I know myself I never begrudged spending money on my own daughter especially when i knew for certain it was been spent on her as opposed to her mums "night outs" because it was myself that did the shopping. Plus it gave me the opportunity to see how expensive stuff is and made me appreciate how her mother struggled sometimes.

Cookie Jar

sickpuppy32 wrote: »

I know myself I never begrudged spending money on my own daughter especially when i knew for certain it was been spent on her as opposed to her mums "night outs" because it was myself that did the shopping

I agree with majority of your post.

But I have to admit the 'nights out' bit really annoys me.
I am a single mother, receiving 50 euro (maintenance from father - edit) a week, which I get prolly 3 weeks out of a month.
<snip>Which is not alot seeing as i spend 50 a week on childcare two evenings. I buy all of her clothes, all her food. When she goes to stay with dad I supply clothes and dinner which may be two nights a week.
So I spend my weekly payment mainly on my daughter, if the father gives me 50 a week is it not ok that I can go out and socialise with it? Seeing as I have just spent majority of my money on his daughter?

Im sorry for jumping down your neck but it really annoys me to see this.
As some weeks i may not recieve his maintence I dont plan on gettin it. So I budget on my own money and if I get it from him is it not ok to spend it on my needs? Seeing as I pay for everything in our daughters life?
I may be a mother but I'm still a person with social needs.

The Corinthian

Cookie Jar wrote: »

So I spend my weekly payment mainly on my daughter, if the father gives me 50 a week is it not ok that I can go out and socialise with it? Seeing as I have just spent majority of my money on his daughter?

In accounting terms, if you advance payment of, for example, €100 p.w. to pay for your child, then he later pays you €50 p.w. and you spend that on socializing, then in reality his money is going to his child, because you paid his amount in advance.

sickpuppy32

Cookie Jar wrote: »

is it not ok to spend it on my needs? Seeing as I pay for everything in our daughters life?
I may be a mother but I'm still a person with social needs.

From his perspective its probably not ok if you spend the money meant for your daughter on yourself, I'm sorry if that annoys you and I can see your point but unless you where married to him, legally he is under no obligation to maintain you and i'd say he knows that too.
I'm putting myself in his shoes here but look at it from his perspective and he should look at it from yours obviously as well.
He see's you getting the single mothers allowance, the children's allowance and his maintenance all meant solely for the upkeep of your daughter and all free from the state.
He works hard and takes home his hard-earned 600 a week, if he has a mortgage or rent to pay as well as transport expenses to get to work, he might not be living the life of luxury either. I know cause i'm earning more than that and i'm struggling!

My own daughters mum keeps all this money in a separate account from her normal income and she says it helps her keep a budget. She's not shy in telling me when there is no money in that account and my daughter needs something extra either and i dont mind getting it for her.

I'm not suggesting you should stay at home and have no social life but if you can prove to him that every euro that is meant for your daughter is been spent on her then he wont have a leg to stand on if you need something extra. Getting him to buy stuff for your daughter as i said will make him feel good as well cause us dad love spoiling our kids even if its new shoes and clothes.

He mightn't know this but let him know he can get a tax break from the government if his kid stays over a night a week. He'll only need a letter from you confirming this happens. If he doesn't have that, it could raise some good will between you and also he'll have no excuse to cut the maintenance. If he already has it, then he cant use the excuse that your getting a free state handout cause he's getting one too!

Just so you know, i pay 300 a month maintenance and i also pay 200 (half the cost) to the childminder. The fact that I'm physically handing this money into the childminders hands means I dont consider it as part of the money i have to give her mum, this is the same for the extras such as clothes/ school expenses etc. I feel it empowers me to be a better dad and makes me feel more responsible for my child as opposed to just handing over the cash so mum can do all the work.

---

A shrink would have a field day with this i know!

anyway just a suggestion, no offence meant, u sound like a good mother, maybe you can help turn him into a good father

metrovelvet

sickpuppy32 wrote: »

From his perspective its probably not ok if you spend the money meant for your daughter on yourself, I'm sorry if that annoys you and I can see your point but unless you where married to him, legally he is under no obligation to maintain you and i'd say he knows that too.
I'm putting myself in his shoes here but look at it from his perspective and he should look at it from yours obviously as well.
He see's you getting the single mothers allowance, the children's allowance and his maintenance all meant solely for the upkeep of your daughter and all free from the state.

How do you know she's getting all those allowances from the State?

Let me tell you on 50 a week, there is no way that is going on anything but the child unless they are running around naked and underweight, that money is going on the child. How can that not be obvious?

Custodial parents are allowed to have a life too and to budget for that.

K-9

The way I look at this is, if the mother goes away for a weekend and I paid the childs maintenance just before that, I am not paying for her weekend.

I am contributing to the daily costs that are involved with a child. Unless the child is not being reasonably look after, I don't see a problem.

ps. On the tax credit point, AFAIK, there is no requirement for a once a week overnight.

sickpuppy32

metrovelvet wrote: »

How do you know she's getting all those allowances from the State?

I only mentioned 3 incomes based on what she said
- the 50 euro sounds about rights for the single mother allowance
- the 100 from the father
and the children allowance which she didn't mention but that one is obvious.

try reading the thread before you start attacking people

metrovelvet

sickpuppy32 wrote: »

I only mentioned 3 incomes based on what she said
- the 50 euro sounds about rights for the single mother allowance
- the 100 from the father
and the children allowance which she didn't mention but that one is obvious.

try reading the thread before you start attacking people

I dont see where she says she gets 50 single mother's allowance or where she gets 100 a week in maintenance.

She said she is a single mother and gets 50 a week [which I assume is the maintenance figure.]

sickpuppy32

metrovelvet wrote: »

I dont see where she says she gets 50 single mother's allowance or where she gets 100 a week in maintenance.

She said she is a single mother and gets 50 a week [which I assume is the maintenance figure.]

your right, i was reading the original question form the other girl who gets 100 a week. All these single mothers gets confusing:D

metrovelvet

sickpuppy32 wrote: »

your right, i was reading the original question form the other girl who gets 100 a week. All these single mothers gets confusing:D

Should I quote on trying to read the thread properly?:p

Nevyn

The non custodial parent needs to have the child at least 1 night per year to get the lone parent tax credit.

The Corinthian wrote: »

In accounting terms, if you advance payment of, for example, €100 p.w. to pay for your child, then he later pays you €50 p.w. and you spend that on socializing, then in reality his money is going to his child, because you paid his amount in advance.

That tends to be how it works unfortunately a lot of fathers paying maintenance don't see it that way.

sickpuppy32

sickpuppy32 wrote: »

He see's you getting the single mothers allowance, the children's allowance and his maintenance all meant solely for the upkeep of your daughter and all free from the state.

Only €26 of the total "single mother's allowance" is for the upkeep of the child, namely, the child dependant allowance. The remainder of the payment, ie. €204.30, is a personal allowance paid for the mother.

sickpuppy32

Deleted User wrote: »

Only €26 of the total "single mother's allowance" is for the upkeep of the child, namely, the child dependant allowance. The remainder of the payment, ie. €204.30, is a personal allowance paid for the mother.

Where does it say that do you know?
Also how much is the childrens allowance anyone know?
There is an english website for their child support agency and I think it has a maintenance calculator on it. Might be a useful tool - then again the english CSA dont exactly have a reputation for been fair to dads so it might not.

sickpuppy32

sickpuppy32 wrote: »

Where does it say that do you know?
Also how much is the childrens allowance anyone know?.

http://www.welfare.ie/EN/Schemes/BirthChildrenAndFamilies/OneParentFamilies/Pages/opfp.aspx#Rates3

Also Children's Allowance is currently €166 per month, and if Bord Snip has its way, this will be reduced to around €136 per month next January

sickpuppy32

Deleted User wrote: »

http://www.welfare.ie/EN/Schemes/BirthChildrenAndFamilies/OneParentFamilies/Pages/opfp.aspx#Rates3

Also Children's Allowance is currently €166 per month, and if Bord Snip has its way, this will be reduced to around €136 per month next January

thanks so basically 280 a month is paid by the state for a childs upkeep
next question is how much a month does a child cost?
800 a month sound ok?
800 - 280 = 520/2 parents = 260 a month minimum sound reasonable?

Everyone's cases are different, a working single parent may still get some One Parent Family Allowance, but paying out a huge chunk of money every month for childcare, or have to pay medical bills ..... there really is no "one size fits all" formula for calculating maintenance.

But to answer your question - yes I personally would consider €260 a month about right, thats about €65 a week.

Reading back on earlier posts though, two thoughts I would like to mention. The first is that an unmarried father is not obliged to maintain the mother of his child. They are only obliged to maintain their child - so to my way of thinking, the maximum the MRU (Maintenance Recovery Unit) should be seeking from an unmarried father is €13 a week, per child. (Half the CDA, as the mother is obliged to maintain her child too). And thats only if he is not contributing directly to the Mother (who in turn is assessed on maintenance received).

I don't count Child Benefit in this, as its a universal payment paid to all children in the state regardless of their parent's status. (at the moment anyway).

By seeking €100 a week, which the mother never sees a penny off, (the money paid to the MRU goes straight into the Exchequer to be offset against the overall cost of OPFA to the taxpayer) - they are asking them to contribute towards maintaining the mother too - which the father is not legally obliged to do.

Also, if maintenance is court ordered, technically under the "in-camera" rule you are not supposed to disclose the contents of an order..... by even asking for copies of maintenance orders, are SW not asking for the in-camera rule to be breached?

(These are just my thoughts, but if I was an unmarried father responding to a demand from the MRU, that is what I would be saying to them.)

Cookie Jar

The Corinthian wrote: »

In accounting terms, if you advance payment of, for example, €100 p.w. to pay for your child, then he later pays you €50 p.w. and you spend that on socializing, then in reality his money is going to his child, because you paid his amount in advance.

That is exactly my point but a lot of single fathers don't see it that way.

I didn't want to cause a big argument and again sorry for attacking you sickpuppy32 but like I said I'm sick of the "paying for her nights out" term.

He is not maintaining my lifestyle in any way. I work for what me or my daughter need. The point I was trying to get across is exactly what The Corinthian has said.
I pay on average 150+ a week on my daughter (some weeks could be more, some less). Then if her dad gives 50 to me as maintenance I see it as extra money in my pocket to do as I please with it, as I have already paid more than my half of our daughters expenses.
Majority of the time it goes on her anyway:rolleyes: But I will not let anyone tell me I am not within my rights to spend that money on a "night out"

The Corinthian

Cookie Jar wrote: »

That is exactly my point but a lot of single fathers don't see it that way.

Much of that comes down to suspicion and resentment. And ignorance. Single fathers have no idea what the costs are and are told to mind their own business when they ask.

Of course, sometimes fathers do subsidize mothers, although it tends to be in the cases of higher maintenance levels. For example, returning to my original example of the mother spending €100 p.w. on the child, but with the father paying maintenance of €100 p.w., then the father is indeed subsidizing the mother, to the tune of €50 p.w.

Legally this occurs because while there is a premise that a father should pay more if he earns more, there is actually zero accountability for how the money is spent.

LegacyUser

Free house if i am claiming lone parent...?? my god i must have had my head in the sand when they handed out those keys to the free houses, my apt cost 1200 a month, 600 i pay myself and the other 600 paid by RA. My partner gives 50 a month and my lone parent amount was reduced because of this, he also had to provide a letter confirming this amount when i got my RA so it is means tested based on this and based on my lone parents amount.

Also the child benifit, this cannot be based as a hand out to single mothers, everyone in the country with a child gets it whether u earn 400 a month or 4000 a month!!

sickpuppy32

child benefit goes to every child in the country your right, but when the child's parents are separated the money always goes to the mother when all things been equal, the money (and the custody) should be split between both parents.

Nevyn

No it goes to the parent who has the main custody of the child, there are fathers out there who are the main custodial parent and so get the chid benefit.

sickpuppy32

Thaedydal wrote: »

No it goes to the parent who has the main custody of the child, there are fathers out there who are the main custodial parent and so get the chid benefit.

yeah i think i met that guy once