Kids not receiving child benefit

newdave1975

Any advice please. 

My friend has full time custody of kids. His ex partner has the claim for child benefit. However she is now not handing over the money to the dad for her kids. 

Put simply what can be done? On numerous occasions she has been given the opportunity to sign it over to the dad or end her claim so the dad can start a new one. 

Any suggestions will be welcome 

thanks

Browntoa

Friend of mine took the route of 

Applying for maintenance from ex partner 

Reporting benefit fraud

She's fraudulently claiming child benefit 

Ps , he won maintenance from her ( not that she ever paid it ) 

saajan_12

Does he receive child maintenance from ex? If not, perhaps this could be raised in the same discussion. 

(Out of interest what is she saying - does she agree but just not doing it or is she arguing she should get it? )

newdave1975

saajan_12 said:

Does he receive child maintenance from ex? If not, perhaps this could be raised in the same discussion. 

(Out of interest what is she saying - does she agree but just not doing it or is she arguing she should get it? )

No nothing in the form of Maintenance. The claim for child benefit is in her name. The children live with the dad full time. Now to give her dues, the money paid into her bank account (child benefit) she was giving to him, by cash. But was sporadic and in her terms. Now he’s got £5 to his name and not being paid until two weeks. 

She has been made aware that she needs to take some action to change the claimant, but is just not doing it. 

Thanks 

Newcad

I have to say that to me this currently sounds like a domestic dispute rather than a benefits issue.

Yes sorting out who the CB is paid to should be the aim.

But that will take time 

The fact that he only has £5 for the next 2 weeks needs to be addressed in a faster way.

If food is needed urgently then getting a referal to a food bank needs to be considered

Spoonie_Turtle

newdave1975 said:

saajan_12 said:

Does he receive child maintenance from ex? If not, perhaps this could be raised in the same discussion. 

(Out of interest what is she saying - does she agree but just not doing it or is she arguing she should get it? )

No nothing in the form of Maintenance. The claim for child benefit is in her name. The children live with the dad full time. Now to give her dues, the money paid into her bank account (child benefit) she was giving to him, by cash. But was sporadic and in her terms. Now he’s got £5 to his name and not being paid until two weeks. 

She has been made aware that she needs to take some action to change the claimant, but is just not doing it. 

Thanks 

This to me (caveat: I have no experience here) sounds like it could be grounds for reporting benefit fraud, as she no longer meets either of these conditions. 

You’ll usually be responsible for a child if either:

• you live with them
• you’re paying at least the same amount as Child Benefit (or the equivalent in kind) towards looking after them - for example on food, clothes or pocket money

https://www.gov.uk/child-benefit/eligibility

But realistically she has made it hard to prove by paying in cash before that.


The more urgent issue as mentioned above is the immediate lack of money, as no dispute is going to get sorted quickly.

For context so others can know what suggestions may or may not be helpful, does your friend claim any other benefits?

newdave1975

Spoonie_Turtle said:

newdave1975 said:

saajan_12 said:

Does he receive child maintenance from ex? If not, perhaps this could be raised in the same discussion. 

(Out of interest what is she saying - does she agree but just not doing it or is she arguing she should get it? )

No nothing in the form of Maintenance. The claim for child benefit is in her name. The children live with the dad full time. Now to give her dues, the money paid into her bank account (child benefit) she was giving to him, by cash. But was sporadic and in her terms. Now he’s got £5 to his name and not being paid until two weeks. 

She has been made aware that she needs to take some action to change the claimant, but is just not doing it. 

Thanks 

This to me (caveat: I have no experience here) sounds like it could be grounds for reporting benefit fraud, as she no longer meets either of these conditions. 

You’ll usually be responsible for a child if either:

• you live with them
• you’re paying at least the same amount as Child Benefit (or the equivalent in kind) towards looking after them - for example on food, clothes or pocket money

https://www.gov.uk/child-benefit/eligibility

But realistically she has made it hard to prove by paying in cash before that.


The more urgent issue as mentioned above is the immediate lack of money, as no dispute is going to get sorted quickly.

For context so others can know what suggestions may or may not be helpful, does your friend claim any other benefits?

In agreement with everything here, it’s a complex situation. However on doing some further digging it does seem there is a route. 

I found this via .gov chat. 

Only one person can get Child Benefit for a child.

If someone else is claiming for a child in your care and

you want to receive the benefit, you should:

1. 2. 3. Select ‘Start now’ (opens in a new tab).

Select ‘Make a new claim’.

Sign in to this service.

4. Complete the application.

We will then inform the claimant that another claim has

been made and ask them to relinquish their benefit. If

they do not comply, HMRC will decide who will get the benefit. 

I would imagine my friend could very easily prove the kids are full time with him (social worker can attest to this also)

As for the immediate lack of funding yes, family are helping out and the food bank is an option. 

It’s shocking that it has got to this, and i do understand why the rules are so, what seems inflexible. But there are cases of financial coercion and the main care giving parent does need that protection. Although in his case it kinda broke down. 

Thanks for all the advice. 

 

jane_doe

I've been here myself. It's as per Newdave. He has to put in an application for CB for himself. Then the child benefit people contact existing claimant and tell them of a counter claim and ask if they want to relinquish. If they refuse, the CB people ask both sides for evidence to support their claim of being the primary carer. If he has a family court issued child arrangements order then it should be cut and dried in his favour. Failing that a diary of recent contact arrangements over the last 6 months or longer can be offered.

newdave1975

jane_doe said:

I've been here myself. It's as per Newdave. He has to put in an application for CB for himself. Then the child benefit people contact existing claimant and tell them of a counter claim and ask if they want to relinquish. If they refuse, the CB people ask both sides for evidence to support their claim of being the primary carer. If he has a family court issued child arrangements order then it should be cut and dried in his favour. Failing that a diary of recent contact arrangements over the last 6 months or longer can be offered.

Thank you.  I hoped this would be the case. And yes he can very easily prove he has primary custody. Thank you for your reassurance. 

Alice_Holt

As said.
Put in a claim and HMRC will determine which parent has the main caring responsibility and should receive CB.

Evidence that will help HMRC in their decision includes:
Where the child stays for the majority of days,
Who is the parent dealing with the child's school,
Where the child is registered for GP / Dentistry etc and who takes the child for check ups etc,
Who pays for the child's clothes, food, gives pocket money, essentials etc. 

The decision process is very similar to that in Tax Credits:
https://www.gov.uk/child-tax-credit/responsibility-for-child

Note that any decision by HMRC carries appeal rights.

newdave1975

Thank you all. The advice has been very helpful.