If you and another person make separate claims for Child Benefit for the same child, only one of you can get it. You should try to choose between you who should be the one to get the benefit.
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If you're responsible for a child you can claim Child Benefit. But there may be someone else who pays towards the cost of looking after the child and they also want to claim. For example, if your child:
If both you and another person want to claim Child Benefit it's best if you sort out between you who should claim. Normally Child Benefit is paid to the person the child lives with. A child normally lives with you even if they're away for a short while. This is as long as that's not more than 56 days in any 16 week period.
Child Benefit if your child lives with someone else
You - or your partner - may not work enough hours to pay full National Insurance contributions (NICs). So it could be better if that person claims Child Benefit because this can help protect their entitlement to the State Pension.
How claiming Child Benefit can help protect your State Pension
You might already be getting Child Benefit and someone else decides to claim too. For example:
In some cases you won't know about this other claim until the Child Benefit Office tells you they have received it. They won't be able to tell you who has made the claim. But if you know that someone else has applied for Child Benefit, try to decide between yourselves who should get the payment.
If you decide that you don't want to carry on with your claim, let the Child Benefit Office know as soon as possible. You can let them know online by using the link below, or you can call the Child Benefit Helpline.
Tell the Child Benefit Office online that you don’t want to carry on with your claim
Contact details for the Child Benefit Helpline
If you can't decide who gets the payment and both of you still want to claim, the Child Benefit Office will decide who to pay. If they decide that someone else will get the Child Benefit, your payments will stop.
If you and the other person have both made a claim, you might not be able to decide between you who should get Child Benefit. In this case, the Child Benefit Office may have to decide who to pay it to. They will contact you for further information.
The decision on who'll get Child Benefit won't necessarily be the same for tax credits - if you're getting them.
If you disagree about who should get the payment, you can ask the Child Benefit Office for an explanation of how they reached their decision.
Find out about problems with your Child Benefit - where to start
If you want someone else to claim Child Benefit, for example to help protect their pension, you'll need to tell the Child Benefit Office that:
If you change your mind again later you can make another claim for Child Benefit.
Tell the Child Benefit Office online that you want to stop getting Child Benefit
Contact details for the Child Benefit Helpline
How claiming Child Benefit can protect your State Pension
You must tell the Child Benefit Office straight away if your circumstances change, for example if your child goes to live with someone else.
Find out which Child Benefit changes you need to report
You or your partner could be liable to a tax charge called the 'High Income Child Benefit charge'. Changes to the number of children either of you are entitled to receive Child Benefit for could affect your tax.
Instead of paying the tax charge, you or your partner could have decided not to receive Child Benefit payments. All the guidance above still applies to you. You must still keep the Child Benefit Office up to date - for example if you decide that someone else should claim Child Benefit for your child.
High Income Child Benefit charge
Find out if you qualify for Child Benefit
