TAX CREDITS

The sun has been shining long after I’ve left work and I’ve been able to spend the evenings pottering in the garden. It’s always a shame to be tied to your desk or inside a court room when the weather is so nice, especially when it invariably seems to rain at weekends. Curiously one of my colleagues at Latimer Hinks was even laughing last week at the prospect of another summer of wet weekends and we all being unaware of how nice the weather is during the week, as we beaver away dispensing legal advice indoors.

One of the difficult things about divorce is the fact that, save in exceptional circumstances, the income that kept one household cannot realistically keep two households to the same standard. Hence where one spouse previously stayed at home or worked only part-time, separation can bring with it the prospect of returning to the workplace or increasing hours. No more weekdays tending the garden or stretching out on the lawn as the fancy takes you. Fortunately the current tax credit system is designed to ease the pain with financial incentives for those who work at least 16 hours a week and, better still, there are no deductions for maintenance payments.

I suppose you could describe them as a ray of sunshine amongst what might otherwise seem an impossible situation. Locked away working during the summer months, everyone can do with a little drop of sunshine. For more information click here.