Child benefit - stepfamily, new child

njp28

I'm in a civil partnership but the leglities are the same as for straight married couples, I just mention the CP because the pronouns might otherwise confuse you!

My partner has 3 children and has full custody, they live with us full time. She has claimed the child benefit since they were born and it is completely in her name, mine isn't on the claim at all. I've now had a child and need to add the baby to the child benefit claim. The new baby is legally both ours, my partner is second parent on the birth certificate but I don't just want to add them to my partner's existing claim, I want my name on there too because I want my NI contributions protected when my maternity pay runs out as I don't have a job to return to immediately.

I know I can speak to the CB people and ask them this but previous experiences of phoning up for things like this suggest that the person over the phone can't advise without going off and looking it up and then giving me wrong advice (like when I wanted to register the birth and she kept going on about me bringing the father and when we claimed HB and they tried to process me as a single person).

Basically, my situation is the same as it would be if I was married to a man who had full custody of his kids and claimed the CB for them. Does anyone know how it works when a new baby joins a stepfamily like this? I've googled and found no clear answer and I will be phoning but I'd like to be armed with the knowledge of our rights before having to explain it to someone on the phone.

TIA

System

From what I can gather you will be treated the same as a male/female couple and the claim for child benefit would be as a couple so added to your partner's claim

njp28

I know we'll be treated the same as a male/female couple and the baby will be added to the existing claim, but will it have both our names on as we both need to cover ourselves for NI in the case of unemployment. I've already missed out on this several years ago when I was the SAHM to my stepkids for 18 months because I didn't know about it. It's not the female/female aspect that I don't understand because I know that's legally the same, it's the stepfamily setup that I don't know about, I don't know if I can claim for children that I don't have legal parental responsibility for (their dad still legally has that though he doesn't see them, pay for them or claim benefits for them).

pmlindyloo

Still a bit confused, sorry.

What do you want to do?

You be the named claimant for both the new baby and the step children?
You claim for the new baby and your partner claim for your step children so you both get the NI credits?

As far as I am aware you can be the claimant for all the children if your partner agrees.

You can't make two separate claims so you both receive the NI credits.

The notes here

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/359768/ch2-notes.pdf

seem to suggest that this only happens when the children live in separate households.

You could give the child benefit office a ring and find out.

Just by the by, the NI credits are class 3 and only go towards your state pension. They do not count towards unemployment benefits.

nannytone_2

the OP wants them both to be named on the same claim so they both get NI credits.

as far as i am aware, they only put CB claims into single names.

OP ... isn't your partner able to work?
aren't you able to work?
out of work benefits also pay an NI credit

benniebert

nannytone wrote: »

the OP wants them both to be named on the same claim so they both get NI credits.

as far as i am aware, they only put CB claims into single names.

OP ... isn't your partner able to work?
aren't you able to work?
out of work benefits also pay an NI credit

I'm trying to get my head round this, you mention two people wanting to make a joint claim for all of the children - presumably mum and dad, then the poster makes reference to another third parent???
With what little that I know about biology, don't you only need two to make a baby (male sperm and a female egg)? Or am I barking up a very tall tree?

NYM

benniebert wrote: »

I'm trying to get my head round this, you mention two people wanting to make a joint claim for all of the children - presumably mum and dad, then the poster makes reference to another third parent???
With what little that I know about biology, don't you only need two to make a baby? Or am I barking up a very tall tree?

I don't know if you are genuinely confused or for some other reason, but the OP made it very clear in her first post.

benniebert

NYM wrote: »

I don't know if you are genuinely confused or for some other reason, but the OP made it very clear in her first post.

Hello, yes I am genuinely confused. There seems to be talk of numerous parents involved??

[Deleted User]

i think the main point is that only one parent ever can get "protected rights" (or NI credits)i don't recall it being transferable
i suppose the other Q is how many years n.i. cont do you have and how long before you are 67?

benniebert

blondebubbles wrote: »

The other parents aren't relevant to the child benefit claim.

How many parents are there? It seems some want to claim, others don't. It's confusing! As you say it probably isn't relevant anyhow.

silvercar

Seems well explained on the .gov website:

If families split or join together
If a family splits up, you get £20.50 a week for the eldest child you qualify for.

Example
If you have 2 children and one of them stays with you, you’ll get £20.50 a week for them. If your ex-partner claims for the other child, they’ll get £20.50 a week for that child.

If you both claim for the same child, only one of you will get Child Benefit for them.

If 2 families join together, the eldest child in the new family qualifies for the £20.50 rate. If you’re entitled to Child Benefit for any other children, you’ll get the £13.55 rate for each of them.

In this case, you are two families joining together (albeit one of the "families" is a new family and one an existing family) so the last para applies.