bad father child benefit

[poppylove]

hi i'm at a loss and getting desperate now i have a stepson who was living with his father for the last year and decided to come back to his mum and myself 4mths ago, we are struggling to get child benefit for him as his dad will not tell them he is living here with us he has even told them that he came here for a weeks holiday and is now back there, the school,doctors,dentist and any other that we could think of has him living here but the benefit office are of no use and dont seem to want to help, my wife only does 4hrs work aweek and i broke my ankle in august and still unable to work due to difficulties and am self-employed, his dad is a paramedic (first responder) taking home excess of £2000 a month and will not tell them because of csa also his wife has £2000+ aswell so its not his only income,, any help would be much appreciated

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Hello Poppylove

Thanks for your post. My name is Suzie and I am an adviser at Family Rights Group.

We are not experts in the area of benefits so I am not really the best person to advise. It is my understanding, however, that as your stepson is living with you and your partner, you should simply start a new claim for child benefit. As there is an existing claim regarding your stepson, the benefit agency would stop this and do an investigation to assess who is entitled to the claim.

As I say, however, I am not a benefits expert. I wonder if any other users can add anything from their own experience?

For more in depth benefits advice, I would suggest that you contact your local citizen’s advice bureau (CAB).

Good luck

Suzie
FRG Adviser