Workfulness

So consumed with part-time workfulness, I'm running dry to talk about anything but my favourite subject- me, me, me- and even that's running parchful.

Normally quite rational, I've allowed myself to become lacrimose and then vituperative in trying just to understand the interplay of exchanges between the three national benefit agencies in one week.
a) The DWP sends me 17 letters in one week to cover mortgage interest relief, working tax credit and child tax credits and other benefits for taking on parttime (20 hrs per week) which they classify as fulltime.
b) For Inland Revenue, there's going on a redistribution of wealth as I try to do the right thing and acknowledge the kiddos' Dad 50% equity in their care and benefits. When they were born, legally were they mine because I gave birth. Now I may have committed fraud because I obeyed current claiming rules in 1996 and negotiated 50/50 custody rules. I can't keep up, even though I try. Another 17 letters all with conflicting provisional or full entitlements for this or that amount or sum, the derivation of which from an unseen Excel spreadsheet couldn't be more opaque.
c) The third agency is the Council, which takes charge of housing costs and council tax. On returning to workfulness, I gave a full and frank account of changes in circumstance to DWP and HM Inland Revenue last month but forgot about the Cooncil, thinking the agencies would have cross information. Apparently this impression was partly true because the Cooncil's on my tail, but the irregularity register is used only to detect fraud and not smooth flowpaths that the DWP fail to provide. Now I'm in deep shit because I forgot to inform the Council Tax of workfulness last month, thinking erroneously that the interlinked agencies would do this for me, and will paying through the nose for my sin. An ex- couple who just want to get parentalism sorted eeksie peeksie as agreed between parents is necessarily a suspect criminal and a fraudster conspiracy. Thank YWHW the kiddos don't see it the same way as some families, with a combative win/lose, all or nothing framework.

Hopefully, the three agencies are more interested in the change from an assumption of a female gender to the primary parent, and a new acceptance that joint parents can be 50/50. Hopefully they'll redistribute entitlements and responsibilities accordingly.