crystal23

Child Benefit is non-means tested and therefore given to ANYBODY who is eligible for it when they apply. The OP can work as little or as much as she likes she will still get CHILD BENEFIT.

CHILD TAX CREDIT on the other hand is means tested and yes the OP will have to work a minimum of 16 hours per week to apply for this. You have to jump through hoops to get this benefit and the OP will be in for a shock at the amount of info she will be required to provide.

As I said in my previous post it won't be as easy as she thinks getting benefits and she should seriously about getting support for her child from the father which IMHO is the right and proper thing for a father to do.

sonlymewalter

northernbird

That sentence is the only decent thing expressed on this whole thread. The judgemental opinions shown on this thread have been disgusting IMO. You lot must all be whiter than white eh.

LouiseD

To be fair NB, I think if the OP had worded her query a bit differently it may not have wound people up. If she had maybe asked what benefits she would be entitled to as a last resort if she couldn't find work and if her husband couldn't help then people would have been much more supportive - as they were with others who have been in that situation recently.

I think that those of us who work and pay our taxes are just getting sick to death of the benefit brigade.

BigDavyG

Why is it disgusting to express disgust at someone asking how to milk the system - whether it is right legally it sure isn't morally.
Oh - and any opinion is judgemental by definition so stop it with the bleeding heart nonsense and spare a thought for all the not so well off working families in the UK who have kids to feed, no maids and no investment properties in Hong Kong or savings for its those folk who will be paying for this waster. :curse:

Cheetah7

My best friend was diagnosed with a rare liver condition and will need a transplant within the next 5 years or so.

Some days she can barely drag herself into work and when she considered giving up work at a particularly bad stage of her disease, she was advised that she hadn't paid enough contributions - despite working since the age of 16.

She was entitled to no extra help, no disability benefit and trust me CAB assisted her in this.

When I was self employed and had a period out of work, I was advised to sign on for tax purposes. It turned out that I hadn't paid enough contributions although I started working at 16.

I am sorry for your situation Hongkonger, I really am and I don't want to judge you but if the situation is as I see it, that you have never paid into the system, never contributed taxes to the UK and have money tied up in equity in another country, then that equity should be released to fund your move to the UK.

If you are just wanting to find out your options as in help with childcare and somewhere to live, then fair enough and good luck to you.

But if you truly are serious about finding out what benefits you can claim even though you have never paid a penny into the benefits system, then I am sorry but I don't agree.

I have seen people struggle to get by and I mean really struggle. People who have paid into the 'pot' all their lives and when they need help, they are made to feel like spongers and more often than not, are refused.

People who I might add do not have the luxury of equity, because if they did, they would not be entitled to income support or a drastically reduced rate - if they were to get anything at all.

Elderly people forced to sell their homes to fund nursing home care in the later stages of their lives, elderly people who have fought in the war and defended their country.

My Mum was given 6 weeks to live and wasn't given any extra financial help up until the day she died, my sister still struggles to keep the family home (council house) going on one wage and although she works a 7 day week, is finding it hard to make ends meet and no, she is not entitled to benefits.

You have a house, you have a husband and you have the will and ability to work. Please reconsider moving to the UK until you can work out a way to fund your wishes.

Because to even think about claiming such benefits in this situation is wrong. Find out about jobs, childcare, housing by all means but just make sure that it is you that pays for it.

And when you have paid into our system for the required period of time and have built up your own entitlement, then you can say with utmost honesty that it is just that - your entitlement.

This is not being nasty, I am being honest and I strongly suspect that you have hit a nerve with many people.

Good luck with your decision and I hope it will be the right one.

EDIT: I have just read the bit about child tax credit entitlement and if that is non means tested then fair play to you. I am talking about housing benefit, dole money and income support.

fatbrit

This is surely the point -- if she qualifies for the money/help, she qualifies for it. And if she doesn't, she doesn't. And if you don't think people like her should qualify for whatever benefit, take it up with your government (I say 'your' since I lost the right to vote in UK elections a few years back and therefore no longer consider them mine!) and hassle them, not the poor bastard who qualifies for it. The government uses criteria to ensure the help goes to the right people. If you believe that it doesn't go to the right people, it's hardly her fault is it! Nor will it make it go to the right people (or not go out at all?) by calling her names as another poster did.

sonlymewalter

You are completely missing the point here. Not one poster, including myself, has ever said we don't think anyone who is entitled or requires help should not get it. In fact quite the opposite. Anyone entitled to get help should get it, and by law they can get it.

The point being made by everyone including myself, is that Hong Konger and her husband intend to keep their flat in HK and then Hong Konger will come to UK - with their child - and claim benefits under the guise she has no money when in fact they have a flat they own outright which they could sell to pay their own way in life, just like the majority of good hard working folk on here.

The second point is her husband does not intend to pay for his own child. What kind of responsibility is that on both their parts?

The third point is where Hong Konger questions how much more she can receive if she works pt or ft ...

In summary Hong Konger and her husband have no intention of divorcing, no intention of selling their flat to fund her move, no intention of him paying for the joint responsibility of their child and she wants to work the amount of hours based on how much more benefit she will receive as a result of this being either full or part time.

This whole sorry saga smacks of downright sponging - the ability to pay your own way but chosing not to, the ability to take full responsibility for your own child but chosing not to, the ability to take responsibility for the choices you make in life - but chosing not to.

If that's not calculated sponging I don't know what is

northernbird

I didn't say I agreed with what she was doing, I dont.

fatbrit

How much say do you think HK-er has in selling her apartment?
How much say do you think HK-er has in the father of her child paying child support?
What do you think the relationship between Hk-er and her husband is like if they elect to live at opposite ends of the world?
Why do you think HK-er is coming to live with her son in a country she does not know and without the father of her son?

Personally, I have no idea to the true answers to these questions and don't intend to ask them. I'm just proud that I still hold citizenship of a country that provides help to those who need it. And it would seem to me that HK-er does need it.

sonlymewalter

And incidentally this is not a *poor bastard* in fact by most people's standards Hong Konger and her husband have the potential to be cash rich as they have their own flat which is paid for.

In part you are right FB. If the stupid government rules enable people like Hong Konger to come to UK and claim benefits whilst owning property elsewhere, then more fool UK is all I can say:curse:

Another point: It's not just about what can and cannot be claimed. It's about social responsibility and respect. The very fact this lady clearly wants to know how much she can screw out of the system without any joint responsibility by either her or her husband paying their own way in life, it's that which is pissing people off. The deliberate attempt to screw as much out of society as possible. Whether you are "entitled" to do it or not is not the point. It's sponging at its best

This site is full of people who have worked hard all their lives to fund their own way in life. The greatest majority of people would never dream of asking for social help unless they desperatly needed it and that's within their own country where they have paid taxes all their lives, never mind a country they have decided to migrate to.

I would calculate the greatest majority of people on here decided to emigrate and put their heart, soul and well earned cash in to fund their adventure. I suspect they calculated every penny they needed to spend to fund the move, how they could stand on their own two feet in their new chosen country and keep a roof over their head and food on the table until such time they could get a job to pay their own way without using up all their hard earned cash.

I don't think many people thought to keep their house in UK whilst finding out ways in which to claim benefits to help them and their kid/s move to their new country. The majority of migrants decide from the word go if they can afford the move- and if not, they don't go. End of.

fatbrit

You're assuming everyone's like you. They're not! I'm an official expat who has been out of the country of my birth and education for more than a third of my life. Yet your description and definition of the qualities of "expatness" rang absolutely no bells with me.

sonlymewalter

50% of the choice given it is her and her husbands flat

50% of the choice given it is her and her husbands child

From the posts made, it's not a bad relationship - certainly no comments made about beatings or a poor relationship, in fact HK is quite complimentary about her OT.

Don't know and don't care. It is her and her husbands responsibility to work things out and to look after their own child, pay their own way in life. That's what being an adult with social responsibilities is about.

Me too however this person doesn't need benefits, they are cash rich and there is no indication of her or her husband wishing to divorce. You are playing the emotive*feel sorry* game rather than looking at the facts put fwd.

Are you saying that when HK made a choice to marry a Chinese and live in Hong Kong, and have a child - now it's all gone pear shaped and she hates her life in HK, the UK should foot the bill to make her life in the UK more palatable?...whilst incidentally they keep their jointly owned flat in HK?

I tell you what, lets tell these guys on here to do the same thing. Wonder how many would take it up though eh

fatbrit

The place where she applies for benefits will decide whether she needs them or not. They will, I hope, use the law to make their decision. I do not have enough facts to determine whether or not she actually needs them or whether or not she is actually a sponger. I do think she asked a sensible question on the correct forum for her situation, though, and that your pointless attack says more about you than her.

The question on whether she can or cannot liquidate her possible assets in HK and whether or not she can demand child support and/or alimony is unknown unless we have any experts on here? I know nothing about their current legal system, I'm afraid, nor about any treaties that may facilitate her benefit.

I am, however. beginning to amass enough facts to discern your serious character defects.

sonlymewalter

No I'm not. You are the one assuming this. I am assuming quite the opposite. If Hong Konger was like me then she and her husband would pay their own way in society and only ask for help if it was desperatly needed. I personally would sell my house to fund my move, in fact that's exactly what I did - which is no doubt what many, many others have done on here.

Why should they be the same? We are different. I wouldn't expect your life as an expat to mirror mine or vice versa. We've experienced a different life Just because people's lives are different doesn't mean their values are. Respect, honesty, integrity and all those other values are the same wherever in the world you chose to live.



Hows about we have a cuppa tea and agree to disagree about this

Fancy a sponge cake to go with it