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The first eight weeks after a child leaves home

If your child leaves home to live with someone like a friend or relative, you may still get Child Benefit for the first eight weeks.

It may be less than this if the person your child's gone to live with also makes a claim for your child.

• What happens if there is more than one claim for Child Benefit for the same child

After eight weeks

You may keep getting Child Benefit for more than eight weeks if:

• you're contributing towards your child's upkeep (see the section just below for more information about what types of contribution count)
• you are contributing at least as much as the Child Benefit you get for your child
• the person who your child's living with hasn't claimed

All of these must apply.

Types of contribution that count

The amount you are contributing needn't be money. It can include:

• clothes
• birthday and Christmas presents
• food
• pocket money

You might also contribute by providing somewhere for your child to live. For example, you could:

• transfer the house to your partner - the transfer could count as a weekly amount of maintenance but only if you agree this with the Child Benefit Office
• contribute a regular amount to cover your share of the interest on the house where your child lives

Amount and frequency of payments or contributions

The amount you contribute must be worth at least as much as the Child Benefit you get for your child.

Frequency - how often must you contribute?

You can make your contributions weekly, monthly or in a lump sum to cover a set period. If you miss one or two payments over a long period, the Child Benefit Office may treat this as if you have contributed for the whole period.

More than one child

You can make contributions to cover more than one of your children. The Child Benefit Office will treat them as being split equally between your children unless you ask them to consider something else.

If two or more people make contributions for the same child

If you contribute towards your child's upkeep with someone else like your partner, the Child Benefit Office will count the contributions together. They do this to work out if you can keep getting Child Benefit. The total contributions have to be worth at least as much as the Child Benefit you get.

Only one person can get Child Benefit for a child, so it’s best to decide between yourselves who that person is.

• What happens if there is more than one claim for Child Benefit for the same child

Payments under a court order or agreement

You might make maintenance payments covering the cost of your child’s upkeep, under a court order, deed or binding agreement.

These are treated as a contribution towards your child - as long as the order or agreement actually covers your child's upkeep. If it doesn't, your payments are treated as income of the person looking after your child, instead of a contribution.

The Child Benefit Office may treat you as paying towards your child even if they don't live with the person you're paying maintenance to. However, you must still be contributing to your child's upkeep. Either of the following must apply:

• you arrange for the payments to go to the person - or home - looking after your child
• you directly pay the person who is looking after your child

Contacting the Child Benefit Office to tell them you have stopped contributing

You must let the Child Benefit Office know if you stop making contributions towards your child's upkeep. You can do this online by using the link below, or you can call the Child Benefit Helpline.

The Child Benefit Office will check whether you should keep getting Child Benefit.

• Tell the Child Benefit Office online you have stopped contributing to your child's upkeep Opens new window

• Contact details for the Child Benefit Helpline

More useful links

• Child Benefit rates

• You have children - can you get tax credits for them?

Useful contacts

• Money, tax and benefits contacts