Shared Residence and Childcare

Hi all, I''m new here and I wondered if someone could offer any advice from their own knowledge or previous experience.

I have recently separated from my partner. She took my 3 year old son and moved out. I am currently pursuing a shared residence order through court as she has made clear that she is unwilling to consider anything except her having sole residence and (at most) me having alternate weekends contact. For me this isn''t enough, I have always played an active role in my son''s upbringing, and want to continue to do so. I want my son to grow up realising that I am a father in the true sense, that I am involved in all aspects of his life, including school, homework, friendship, advice. In short not just someone he comes to at the weekend.

To enable this I have moved house to be nearer so that I will be able to maintain his school routines when he is with me.

I am currently unemployed. I left my university course to make this a real possibility, but I don''t want to be unemployed indefinitely! My aim is to wait until after the residence issue is resolved so that I can find a job that fits around looking after my son.

In an ideal world I would like full residence, however as this is a pretty unrealistic prospect I think the best that I can hope for is to look after him for alternate full weeks.

Does anyone know if it is possible to make arrangements with Tax Credits to enable me to receive some kind of funding for childcare? My ex is extremely hostile, and I don''t see any way that we will come to any amicable arrangement, but if she is the only one able to claim tax credits it will leave me in a very difficult position when searching for a job, as I will have to find a job that pays well enough to be able to afford childcare, or find a job that is willing to accommodate very specific hours to fit in with my childcare responsibilities. In the current climate where most people are simply glad of any job, I can''t see the second option being a realistic possibility.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Sadly sharing care 50:50 can be a real problem when there isn''t enough money. Tax credits and currently chid maintenance invariably goes to the parent in receipt of Chid Benefit. CB for a chid cannot be shared, although when there is more than one child each parent can claim CB for different children.