Tax/child credits and ex

[GRIFF27]

This is quite a complicated situation but any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. My niece who has an eleven year old son still shares a house with her ex partner who is and always has been abusive. He still partially lives there but does not come home when he chooses.
Before the child was born my neice had her own flat but stupidly when the baby was 3 years old she entered into a mortgage with the babies father and bought a house. She paid the deposit.
Things didn't work out - he didn't pay the first months mortgage or give her any money- consequently my neice had to claim child and tax credits. Time and again she has called the police to him but he won't leave the property because he says his name is on mortgage etc. He is very crafty and most of his abuse is verbal,if she puts the house up for sale he takes it down, that sort of stupid thing. The only thing he has paid for is the childs school fees which are about £400 per month, he never buys the child clothes food or contributes to the bills.
Things have got so bad my neice is now determined to leave, she has put the house up for sale and this time he has agreed, her problem is now he has stopped paying the school fees but pays exactly half of the mortgage and absolutely nothing else (£182). She is worried that she is breaking the law and should tell tax credits that he is now contributing to the bills.(mortgage)
About four years ago tax credits investigated my neice because he lives at the property, she told them everything about him paying school fees and that he comes and goes as he pleases and she is powerless to stop him. They questioned him and he told them he will stay at his house as and when he chooses. He gave them a singed note that he only pays the school fees.
Her problem is that he is now purposely running up her bills gas, electric, eating her food and basically being spiteful to cost her money. If she now tells tax credits that he is paying half the mortgage, which is a lot less then the school fees, will this make a considerable difference to her award. If she doesn't inform them is she breaking the law, he is threatening to report her and say they have been in a relationship. With the housing market the way it is this situation is likely to continue for a while, she has been advised not to walk away by a solicitor, but obviously can't keep paying for everything. She is at her wits end. Any help would be most welcome.

[poppynurse]

Can her solicitor not force him out?

[honey5]

i agree she needs to get her solicitor involved, although it is very difficult to remove someone from the home, i suffered from domestic violence for years and it wasnt until the police actually witnessed it themselves that he was arrested and kept away for 6months whilst on bail.
Even now i can not stop him from walking thru the front door as he owns half of the property (thankfully he now doesnt bother)

As far as the tax credits are concerned, i recieved tax credits whilst he paid half of the mortgage as well as for the children thru the CSA, I was never asked who paid for what

honey x

[GRIFF27]

Thanks for your help it's very much appreciated