Can you claim child benefit if you live abroad

[Hiphopfrogger]

A friend of mine lives abroad, and has done for around 15 years. She now has a DD (she came back to the UK for the birth and stayed with her parents so the DD has a UK passport ). But it seems she’s claiming child benefit. Can you do that from abroad? She’s never worked or paid tax in this country and nor has the DDs father. Is that fraud or is it ok? Googling doesn’t seem to help!

On a slightly different but related note, your friend should have had to pay for her NHS care while having the baby etc. As non- residents, British or not, have to pay for healthcare now. Many trusts are picking up on this now, but may not have in years prior. But this is a whole other debate. I'm all for those vulnerable ladies who are unable to pay, but it really annoys me about those who live and work (earning well etc) outside the UK and decide to come back to have a baby because it's free and would cost XYZ where they live. I've known lots of perfectly 'wealthy' people who do this! Ahhh

@thegull she is married, but not to a Brit, so I don’t suppose that makes a difference. I know she should have paid for her medical treatment over here as well - I’m trying not to be annoyed by it all, as she lives a far better lifestyle than I do, helped out by UK taxpayers!

Why is it morally wrong if both mother and child are uk citizens? When we lived in Germany, we retained CB and were allowed to claim their version.... We didn't get it as it was means tested but did mean we could access the local childcare which was 80% cheaper than the non resident rate.

It’s tricky though isn’t it @dalooah.
You can’t access the state healthcare system in some Eu countries if you’re self employed.
You can’t always just enter a private system, it’s at their discretion .
One example would be for instance, if you found yourself already pregnant, and having failed to be accepted for the state system, then applied for private insurance.
Nearly all private insurers refuse women who are ALREADY pregnant . Regardless of how much you pay. An unplanned c section in an EU country , with aftercare and medication would cost in the region of 30000euros without insurance. This would be enforced through the debt collection procedures in the host country, which unlike the Uk, include powers to stop your bank accounts entirely. It’s really tough for some women who just head off to the EU for a partners job, assuming it will be as hospitable as the UK.

you are definitely not supposed to - I am British and live abroad because I don't earn enough to sponsor my non-European husband to come to the UK on a family visa (#dividedfamilies) (anyway, that's a whole other topic)

it was very clear on the paperwork that if you leave the country for more than 8 weeks, you should not be getting child benefit or tax credits or probably any other benefit (I was getting the first two, so don't know for sure about anything else)

but as pitterpatter said, even if people are doing it, it's absolute peanuts compared to corporate tax evasion, non-dom tax arrangements (/scams) and other criminality that seems to be legal only if you're rich.

As a uk tax payer I am absolutely 100 % up for my contribution being used for child benefit payouts to uk citizens (women) who live in other EU countries.

Seems a bit odd she had the birth in the UK as she wouldn't be entitled to NHS treatment. Unless she went private of course. Seems morally dubious

The Polish/Romanian/Latvian/Bulgarian citizens claim from our country because they get more.

I don't know about the others, but the Polish government gives the equivalent of £100 per month for each child living in Poland up to the age of 18, regardless of the parents' income. This is much more generous than what the UK gives.

It’s true about the birth, that’s not ok, but I suppose if she went to the GP she’d gone to since she was at school, registered at her parents, no one would have questioned whether it was allowed or not. She definitely didn’t go private .

It is possible. I have been doing so for the past 6 years. However we were under contracts where we paid tax in our host (European) country and NI in the UK.
As far as I remember you need to be paying NI in the UK to qualify and they checked we weren't receiving the same kind of benefit in our host country.
We've now moved out of the EU and no longer pay NI and no longer get child benefits.

@TheCanterburyWhales
With regards to the passport. Our DC were born abroad. They have British passports, however only through parental right which means they can not pass on their citizenship to their children. This would possibly be the reason to return to the UK to give birth, to ensure they are full nationals.

Really @gaspinggekko re passports?
Is one of you not a british citizen?
Mine were born abroad and have full british passports and are full british nationals?

I lived in the UK for a while when ds was little and my child benefit stopped when I moved to Italy. I am surprised people being ok with this as it sounds like she is claiming to live in the UK when she's not.

With regards to the passport. Our DC were born abroad. They have British passports, however only through parental right which means they can not pass on their citizenship to their children.
Same here.

Yes, I know, I used to work in the nationality office. My own dd is BC by descent so won't be able to pass hers on unless she has a period of UK residence in the future.

Thegull- they won't be able to pass it on though if born abroad

Well this is brand new I never knew this

@Thegullfromhull
Me and DH are British and the DC have full British passports and nationality. However gaining British nationality from a parent is only possible for one generation. DC are British but any DC they may have, have no right to a British passport from them if born outside of the UK too.

From gov.uk:
British citizenship is normally automatically passed down one generation to children born outside the UK.

For example, you might automatically become a citizen if you’re born outside the UK to a British parent. But your children will not automatically be citizens if they’re born outside the UK.

It will be the same for your DC.

I thought you can (at least EU wide) it claim it in the country you are resident in? i live in the UK and get CB here but I and my DC have a different EU citizenship and my country of origin pays much more in CB than the UK but I cannot claim as I and the DC don't live there.

I live abroad and dd has British passport etc..I just assumed there was no way I could claim for uk cb? I can’t claim here either as the threshold is so low to be entitled to it 🤷‍♀️I’ve paid taxes and ni in both countries after working for 26 years total..around 16 years full time.

I live abroad and can't claim

As a UK tax payer I am 100% NOT OK with this, at all. If you choose to live in another country then you take the advantages AND disadvantages, not to try to milk the system. Many of these loopholes could be closed and in particular payments for children living outside the UK.

OP, MYOB.

None of your business.

Yes you can. Hth

www.gov.uk/child-benefit-abroad

Just to clarify, you can claim CB legitimately from the UK if you live in the EU. I dont know about countries outside the EU