Child Benefit can help with the costs of bringing up children. You can receive the payment if you’re responsible for raising a child who is under 16, or under 20 if they stay in education or training.
An allowance can be paid for each child - this is usually received every four weeks. The Child Benefit rates are set to rise from April 1, 2023.
These are the two weekly rates in place and how much they are going to increase according to Chronicle Live:
- Eldest or only child - to rise from £21.80 to £24 (an increase of £2.20 a week)
- Additional children - to rise from £14.45 to £15.90 (an increase of £1.45 a week)
But what if your child lives with someone else? Or what happens to your payments if a family splits up or if two families join together? We have rounded up the UK Government rules about how payments are made in those situations.
The cash amounts detailed here are in line with current rates. However, as explained above, rates are set to rise in April.
If your child lives with someone else
You’ll usually get Child Benefit for eight weeks after your child goes to live with someone else (for example a friend or relative), if nobody else claims. However, it can continue for longer if you make contributions to your child’s upkeep.
The Child Benefit Office will tell you if they get another claim for your child - if you can’t decide for yourself who should claim, they will help make this decision.
Contributions to upkeep
You could continue to get the payments for more than eight weeks if you contribute to your child’s upkeep by the same amount or more than the Child Benefit payment. Upkeep includes clothes, presents, food and pocket money and financial contributions to provide your child with somewhere to live.
It's really important that you contact the Child Benefit Office if your circumstances have changed. You can make your contributions weekly, monthly or in a lump sum to cover a set period. If you miss one or two payments over a long period, the Child Benefit Office may treat this as if you have contributed for the whole period.
The Child Benefit Office will treat contributions for more than one child as being split equally, unless you ask them to consider something else. Your contributions will still count if more than one person is contributing for the same child. The total contributions have to be worth at least as much as the Child Benefit you get.
If families join together
If families join together, the eldest child in the new family qualifies for the £21.80 rate and any other children who are eligible will get the £14.45 rate.
If families split up
If a family splits up, you get £21.80 a week for the eldest child. If you have two children and one stays with you and the other stays with your ex-partner, you’ll both get £21.80 a week for each child.
If you both claim for the same child, only one of you will get Child Benefit for them. If you have other children who are entitled to Child Benefit you’ll get £14.45 for each child.
Court orders and agreements
You might still get Child Benefit if you’re making payments towards your child’s maintenance under a court order or agreement. These payments are treated as a contribution towards your child - as long as the order or agreement actually covers your child’s upkeep.
Change who gets Child Benefit
Only one person can get Child Benefit for a child. Contact the Child Benefit Office if you want someone else to claim Child Benefit.
- Explain you want to stop getting Child Benefit.
- Explain who you want to get Child Benefit instead.
- Tell the other person to make a new claim.
- If you change your mind later, you’ll need to make a new claim yourself.
