Child Benefit and Separation

Quick question - in the case of marital separation is the child benefit paid to only one parent or is it duplicated as in the case of both parents getting the one parent tax credit.

I read somewhere that the benefit is actually legally paid to the children so one payment would seem normal.....

Currently my ex wife receives the money but if we were entitled to a second payment it would certainly help matters....if only to get back some of the extra tax since May,

Only one child benefit is paid per child. regardless of the parental circumstances.

this thread would seem to indicate that there are some circumstances where both parents can claim the lone parents tax relief.

http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?t=121181&highlight=night+year

I think you may be confusing the Child Benefit payment (which is a SW payment normaly paid to mothers only) with Single parent tax credits.

Single parent tax credits are available to both parents living apart
on condition that

• child/children spend at least one night per year living with each parent
• The parents are not co-habiting (with another partner

Child Benefit is paid to the custodial parent (usually the mother).

Single Parent Tax Credit is applicable to both separated parents providing they are not cohabiting.

What may help is if you are earning low wages and you have a court ordered maintenance agreement you can have this taken into account when calculating Family Income Supplement. E.g. You have 2 children - 1 from a previous relationship; only 1 child lives with you. The income limit of €590 applies and your reckonable wages are reduced by the amount of maintenance you are paying to your ex partner.

If you were married and you are considering claiming FIS then only one parent may claim it. HTH

Thanks - I have the one parent tax credit and maintenance tax relief issues under control but on reading recent cases highlighted in the press I got the impression that there were circumstances where the Child Benefit is paid to both parents. It does seem that is not the case and the only benefits are the tax credits and increase to the standard rate cut off point.

danash said:

Thanks - I have the one parent tax credit and maintenance tax relief issues under control but on reading recent cases highlighted in the press I got the impression that there were circumstances where the Child Benefit is paid to both parents. It does seem that is not the case and the only benefits are the tax credits and increase to the standard rate cut off point.

Click to expand...

That's correct.