I'm pretty sure you'd get the governments paid maternity leave anyway. The issue would be with your employer. I don't want to return to work but wanted to keep the door open as I am entitled to 12 months off work for maternity leave. What I did was took 7 months off to start with and this is what was in my letter to him when I notified him I'd be taking the maternity leave. You are entitled to extend your leave only once. So I've just extended my leave to the full 12 month entitlement. You need to give that notice 1 month before you were due to start work. I could have only extended for say another 2 months and would have ended up with only 9 months total but I have opted to take the full 12 months. In your case if you already know you don't want ot return to work than I'd just tell your employer you are not coming back. If you want the option than tell him you'll be taking the 12 months off and if you end up not going back I think you just need to give them 1 months notice. There are government area you can call to clarify what the arrangments would need for your situation. Hope I haven't been too confusing