newly single - questions re Centrelink

My DF & I have just split.

I am on maternity leave.

I don't go back to work til 2/2. I am unable to change this date.

I don't think I have enough money to get me through til my first pay to cover my mortgage as well as living expenses. It is unlikely I will get any money from ex until Child Support is all sorted out & it wont be much.

Can I claim anything whilst on maternity leave? If so what is it called?

I currently only get a small portion of FTB A.

What happens if I decide its all too hard and don't go back to work? Can I get some kind of payment from Centrelink or will that not be possible as I'd be resigning from a job.

I've never been in this situation before. I just don't have a clue about how it all works and being a public holiday today I can't make any official inquiries til they are open tomorow.

I would be grateful for any info anyone can provide me with.


Update: We are now working on things so maybe I've over reacted a little. Anyway it will be very handy to have this info if things don't work out in the end.

Oh WOW hun, is this sudden? C'link is absolutely flooded right now, the holidays see many, many people splitting up :o.

Head to the Clink website, there is a calculator there and you can enter your circumstances and see what you are eligible for. If you are eligible -

You can get paid from the day he moves out.
You will receive max rate FTB A and B.
If you are receiving mat pay, you will be paid based on how much that is each f/night.
Parenting Payment is based on the fact you are a parent caring for a child, not looking for work. It won't matter if you don't go back to work, or don't look for work until bubs is 6 or something so a long way off. If you resign, it doesn't matter.
You won't get Rent Assistance, cos you are not renting.
Your FTB may be affected ONLY if he has to pay you a huge amount of CS.

hth xoxoxoxoxo
Sorry about the split mate XOXOXOXXO

first of all big :hug:

You should be eligible for parenting payment single, and I think your FTB will go up. Hopefully Briggsy's girl will be on later and she may be able to confirm this.

But centrelink do have a website, that has calculator's and can give you an approx. $ for your circumstances. have a look at it. google centrelink hun. HTH

:hug:

snap lulu lol

hiya satya

Lulu has pretty much summarised it all - but i would be up and on the phone to FAO first thing in the morning so that it gets sorted ASAP. as you're not receiving payments from work at all, you'll be eligible for parenting payment at max rate - and even when you do return to work, you might still be eligible for part payment depending on your income. max rate is around $555 a fortnight.

FTBA and B will go to max rate from the date you seperated - at first you'll be asked to estimate your income (but it will be less than 42k i assume, given you're on unpaid mat leave) so FTBA will go to around 150 a fortnight, FTBB to 125ish (sorry, working from memory cos i've not been at work for months!)

when you ring tomorrow (phone lines open at 8am), first thing you want to do is let them know you're seperated and currently on FTB only - they should be able to seperate your files and increase your FTB. then you can go through application for parenting payment - as long as you get any info to them within 14 days, it will be paid from the date you rang (so tomorrow).

things to keep in mind - what sort of arrangement will you have in place for shared care of DS - i'm assuming that you will have primary care and his dad will have access times. if you have more than 65% care, you get max FTBA (less child support over a certain threshold - if you get more than about 1800 a year, any dollar over that, you lose 50c in the dollar of FTBA over that year). if your ex has more than 14% care, there is a reduction in child support he has to pay. it gets a bit complicated, but not too bad - child support and fao just work it out - all you need to do is work out how many nights a year DS will spend with his dad... with child support, no matter how amicable things are at the moment, i would suggest you get them to collect payment - you get paid once a month, so not ideal - but if things DO turn nasty, or he gets lazy - they will chase up money he owes you!

as Lulu mentioned, as your child is under 6, you won't have any job seeker obligation - when he turns six, you'll be obliged to look for work or engage in work/study/training for at least 15 hours a week to get payment. but that's a looong way off. look at your current situation and worry about the other stuff later. the main thing for now is to get yourself some financial security for now...

as to work - do what is best for you - i'm guessing you are a full timer going back - maybe talk to your employer about going back part time if you're wanting to get back into the work force - some are really flexible like that. but don't fret if you don't go back - you won't be penalised as you're going on parenting payment, not newstart - so you can resign with no drama.

hope that helps

BG

Thanks for the quick replies. Haven't managed to find the calculator you speak of but I'm only just registering for internet access today so maybe I'll see it when I get registered.

Lulu it is kinda sudden but not exactly unexpected. Let's just say my women's intuition has been on red alert for a while now and I'm now taking action.

on the c'link website go to online services on top left hand side of home page - when you're in there, scroll to near the bottom and it will have options for things you can do without registering - one of them is the rate estimator...

Thanks for the info briggsys girl. It's hard to think about dealing with all the financial stuff right now so it's nice to know there are people here who know what they are tlaking about. I think I've found the calculator now.

Oh hun I am so sorry for you. Men can be such @#$%&^%*&^ can't they.
Look after yourself, it is a very tough time emotionally and with a baby it is even worse.
Can't really help on the money side, but I have been there and understnad the roller coaster of emotions.

Sorry to hear about the split Satya and hope you're doing OK.

Apart from the Centrelink advice, it might also be worth having a word with your bank. I know some of them are open to suspending your mortgage while on maternity leave, or you could ask about interest only repayments - we've done that while I'm only working part-time for up to three years and it's saving us heaps.

i'm sorry to hear you're going thru this, Satya. but you have to do what's best for you. good luck :D

He's refusing to move out of the house til it's sold so this is going to get complicated.

it can be, but doesn't have to be. if you have a large enough house to live as seperated under one roof (so you're no longer sharing a marital bed) and you have people that know of your circs
it is definitely doable

make all the same motions to have sep life as you would if he'd moved out (contact c'link, child support, bank to seperate financial ties) - if you need counselling, go and get it.... put house on the market and do everything to strive for independence

Satya - I'm really sorry to hear you're going through a break-up. That really sucks. Good on you though for "taking action" - I really admire your strength.

You've had some great advice in here and I don't think I have much to add really except a :hug:
Will your ex-DF keep up the mortgage payments while he stays in the house at least? This might be at least some worry off your mind while you sort out the rest of your financial situation with CL.

Satya

Sorry darling to read about your split but sometimes it is easier to go your seperate ways hey? I know i was single when my first DS was 8 mths old....

As all the other girls have mentioned C'link will work everything out for you and please please do look after yourself.

Ask me anything as i was a single working mum since tom was 8 mths (practically from birth) til 7 yrs ......

How is little Brock ?

Cheers Ainsley BubNo.2

:hug: satya - I'm sorry to hear your news.

If the house is in your name and he is not willing to move out then maybe you can get an agreement drawn up whereby he is paying rent to you which can then go towards the mortgage. Also make sure the bank accounts are seperated and that the payments come out of yours. BG has given you some great advice. I really hope he doesn't make things any more difficult than they have to be!

sorry Nai - dont' set up a rental agreement - it would count as income towards Parenting Payment and may impact your payment. you're better up drawing up an agreement that he will pay X amount towards the mortgage each month in lieue of child support for that time frame - then it can't be counted as income as it's money for your child not for you kwim?

I am imagining that you are in a really really challenging space Satya darling. I just want to send you my love - I hope that things go as smoothly as possible. :comfort:

Make sure you don't d anything for him or else they can say that you weren't legally separated if you do. A girlfriend got into hassles cause she was doing XH washing and they said well thats not being seperated WTF?

cos thats the FIRST thing you don't miss when its over, why do it when you don't have to !!!!;)

TRUE Lulu!!!!
Don't even buy toilet paper for him LOL

Thanks for the advice ladies. You know I never buy toilet paper - he always does so I'd probably end up with none for myself. lol

Anyway looks like I may have over reacted a little and things are now on the mend. It will be very handy to have all this info though should things in the end not work out. I've been quite stressed lately about having to return to work with a bub in full time day care & I don't think that's helped the whole situation.

Hey Satya, take care :hug:

Satya, i hope it all works out hun, fingers crossed.