Child Benefit

iamlee

i am sorry if this is mentioned somewhere else. i did look but couldn't find the answer. 

i have twins girls, they are British, UK passports and have UK Birth Certs. 

i am currently unable to provide for them as i am claiming UC and LCWRA which isn't enough to survive. i was told i can claim Child Benefits portion. 

my question is, can i claim the child benefits if the child live abroad right now with their mother?

thank you

bg844

Generally speaking, no. There’s complicated rules on Child Benefit and we don’t exactly know the full ins and outs of their situation. 

See: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1056670/CH5-Notes-online.pdf

iamlee

"You normally qualify for Child Benefit if you are responsible for a child under 16 (or under 20 if they stay in approved education or training) and live in the UK."

thanks @bg844 i did read that document. they spend half their time with me and half with their mother. this is why i am a little unsure. i did reach out to uc via the journal but no reply and the helpline says i should journal them. 

the reason for the confusion is because regardless of where they live i am still responsible to support their needs as their father and i cannot do that in my current position. 

bg844

I do understand and it is a complicated issue, UC are completely separate to Child Benefit too. Try phoning HMRC instead:
0300 200 3100
8am to 6pm

iamlee

bg844 said:

I do understand and it is a complicated issue, UC are completely separate to Child Benefit too. Try phoning HMRC instead:
0300 200 3100
8am to 6pm

thank you for the reply. i'll give it a shot. 

poppy123456

Rather than ring HMRC I would get some expert advice from an agency near you. HMRC are not benefits advisors and I fear you could be given incorrect advice from them. 

iamlee

poppy123456 said:

Rather than ring HMRC I would get some expert advice from an agency near you. HMRC are not benefits advisors and I fear you could be given incorrect advice from them. 

thanks poppy. i filled in the form honestly and cannot see an issue for Child Tax Benefits with HMRC. 

i will try and speak to uc about the Children portion. given the turn in my health it's near on impossible to support them with just uc and lcwra. they are with me 50% of the time and the rest spent in school abroad. 

chiarieds

If you're referring to the child element of UC, then scroll down to section F1080 here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1065520/admf1.pdf  which is advice for decision makers.

As advised above, you can search for some local advice here: https://advicelocal.uk/find-an-adviser

Unfortunately not a short term answer, but if you have a health problem/disability have you looked at PIP?

https://www.gov.uk/pip   with the activities/descriptors that are looked at with this here: https://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/asset-library/personal-independence-payment-descriptors-and-scores-april-2023.pdf

iamlee

chiarieds said:

If you're referring to the child element of UC, then scroll down to section F1080 here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1065520/admf1.pdf  which is advice for decision makers.

As advised above, you can search for some local advice here: https://advicelocal.uk/find-an-adviser

Unfortunately not a short term answer, but if you have a health problem/disability have you looked at PIP?

https://www.gov.uk/pip   with the activities/descriptors that are looked at with this here: https://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/asset-library/personal-independence-payment-descriptors-and-scores-april-2023.pdf

thank you for the reply. i should have said i am british and my children are british with birth certs and passports. 

the answer isn't clear or definitive. i'll have to try and call them tomorrow, both HMRC and UC

i still wait for pip. i spoke to them in May. i guess i have a few more months to wait. 

thank you everyone for helping me understand better. 

L_Volunteer

Have you been able to give them a call yet @iamlee? If so, I am just wondering if you would like to share a little more with us about how this has gone for you. Please don't hesitate to let us know if there's anything else we can do to help, especially whilst you are waiting 

iamlee

@L_Volunteer hope to try to call them tomorrow or tuesday. health took a down turn. i will post the result

iamlee

L_Volunteer said:

Have you been able to give them a call yet @iamlee? If so, I am just wondering if you would like to share a little more with us about how this has gone for you. Please don't hesitate to let us know if there's anything else we can do to help, especially whilst you are waiting 

I didn’t forget. I got an SMS today from HMRC. They are assessing it now. UC said if I am eligible for Child Benefit then I am eligible for Child Element of UC automatically.

I’ll update once I hear back from them. 

poppy123456

iamlee said:

L_Volunteer said:

Have you been able to give them a call yet @iamlee? If so, I am just wondering if you would like to share a little more with us about how this has gone for you. Please don't hesitate to let us know if there's anything else we can do to help, especially whilst you are waiting 

UC said if I am eligible for Child Benefit then I am eligible for Child Element of UC automatically.

May i ask who advised you that? That may not be the case looking at UC regulations but it will depend on how often they are with you. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/376/regulation/4

(7) Where a child or qualifying young person is temporarily absent from a person's household the person ceases to be responsible for the child or qualifying young person if—

(a)the absence is expected to exceed, or does exceed, 6 months; or

(b)the absence is from Great Britain and is expected to exceed, or does exceed, one month unless it is in circumstances where an absence of a person for longer than one month would be disregarded for the purposes of regulation 11(2) or (3) (medical treatment or convalescence or death of close relative etc.).

iamlee

poppy123456 said:

iamlee said:

L_Volunteer said:

Have you been able to give them a call yet @iamlee? If so, I am just wondering if you would like to share a little more with us about how this has gone for you. Please don't hesitate to let us know if there's anything else we can do to help, especially whilst you are waiting 

UC said if I am eligible for Child Benefit then I am eligible for Child Element of UC automatically.

May i ask who advised you that? That may not be the case looking at UC regulations but it will depend on how often they are with you. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/376/regulation/4

(7) Where a child or qualifying young person is temporarily absent from a person's household the person ceases to be responsible for the child or qualifying young person if—

(a)the absence is expected to exceed, or does exceed, 6 months; or

(b)the absence is from Great Britain and is expected to exceed, or does exceed, one month unless it is in circumstances where an absence of a person for longer than one month would be disregarded for the purposes of regulation 11(2) or (3) (medical treatment or convalescence or death of close relative etc.).

HMRC and DWP. 

—
You must tell us if your child is leaving the UK for more than 12 weeks.

If your child is temporarily abroad for more than 12 weeks, you may still get Child Benefit if they are abroad only for one of the following reasons:

• to receive full time non-advanced education in an EEA country or
  Switzerland

Page 14: https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20081023231703uo_/http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/childbenefit/ch5_notes.pdf

—

We fall in to this category as of this year. 

poppy123456

That's child benefit guidance, which HMRC deal with and nothing to do with DWP. 

UC is completely different, with very different rules. Please see the link i posted above which is the UC regulations 2013. 

A decision maker for DWP can't make a decision on something before it actually happens, which is why i asked who advised you that you would be entitled to child element. Only a decision maker can make the final decision if you apply for child element.

iamlee

And it is why I answered. DWP decision maker has said, once the HMRC approve, this is the precedent they need to proceed to approval. HMRC has said that this is what DWP needs. 

Organisations are different but a lot of rules are intertwined and there are obvious crossovers between them

iamlee

Either way, good or bad, I’ll update here

poppy123456

iamlee said:

Either way, good or bad, I’ll update here

Thanks, that would be appreciated because it could be helpful in the future for others. Although i appreciate that all circumstances are different.

Jimm_Scope

It can be quite confusing with all the overlapping rules and different governmental bodies handling separate things. Hopefully you get what you need!