In this section:
- What is Child Benefit?
- Child Benefit - do you qualify?
- Child Benefit if you adopt or foster a child
- Child Benefit if your child is in care
- Child Benefit for children in hospital or residential care
- New arrivals to the UK and Child Benefit
- Child Benefit if you're living or working abroad
- Child Benefit if your child lives with someone else
Child Benefit if your child is in care
If you get Child Benefit for your child and they are taken into care or are looked after by a local authority or another public body, your benefit payment may not stop immediately.
What you need to do if your child goes into care
You must tell the Child Benefit Office as soon as your child goes into care. We will then check if you can continue to be paid. You can do this by sending us an online form using the link below.
Alternatively, you can call our Child Benefit Helpline on Tel 0845 302 1444 or textphone Tel 0845 302 1474. The Helpline is open between 8.00 am and 8.00 pm, seven days a week, except Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day.
If your preferred language is Welsh you can call on Tel 0845 302 1489, and if you live outside the UK you can call on Tel + 44 161 210 3086.
Tell us online if your child has gone into care
First eight weeks in care
You can usually carry on getting Child Benefit for the first eight weeks after your child is taken into care.
If your child is in care after eight weeks
Unless your child is in care because of an illness or disability, Child Benefit payments usually stop after eight weeks if the local authority or some other public body pays the cost of care and accommodation.
However, you can make another claim for Child Benefit after eight weeks even if the cost of care and accommodation is paid for if any of the following apply:
- your child spends seven or more consecutive days at home and then return to care, in which case you can claim Child Benefit for the weeks they are at home
- your child spends at least 24 hours at home every week, in which case you are entitled to Child Benefit as long as that continues
- you contribute to your child's care if they are being fostered by a relative or someone else, as long as the person doing the caring is not paid by the local authority, and is not getting Child Benefit for your child
Your child is in care because of illness or disability
Your child may be in residential accommodation, or at a residential school, because of an illness or disability. By residential we mean accommodation or schooling provided by a local authority or another public body. If this is the only reason they are away from home, you will still get Child Benefit if you regularly spend money on them. This would include money for clothes, books, toys and so on, or travelling costs involved in visiting them. If your child is away for more than 12 weeks (84 days), and you stop regularly spending money on them, you must tell the Child Benefit Office.
Child Benefit for children in hospital or residential care
More useful links
If your child lives with someone else - information about Child Benefit
