child benefit- what to do?

[Didactylos]

Wierdly specific child benefit question but I cant work out what to do at this point?

I have one DS and since his birth have received child benefit for him
This year I will earn somewhere between 40 - 60 thousand (its complicated, I currently work full time and have to move roles every 3-6 months and have different requirements/pay in each one) I am not moaning about the loss of CB but will this year fall somewhere in the middle ground of only being eligible to a percentage of benefit or none at all, I just wont know which until the financial year ends. DPs salary is about a third of mine. I'm not terribly extravagant, and the child benefit is used for my DS- some saved and some towards our general budget

But - we are hoping for a 2nd child and on return from work I plan on going part time, and my wages correspondingly fall. So we as a couple will be eligible for child benefit again on my maternity leave (and to be honest with 2 children and trying to take a reasonable leave it will be much more important and will make a difference to our budget during that time.

So should I cancel DS s child benefit if I earn over 60000 this year or keep it going and just arrange to pay back through the tax system, knowing that he will soon be eligible to receive it again when my wages drop. But then Ill have a higher tax code during some of this period.
Or do I have to cancel and reapply for DS1 and DC2 when on mat leave with DC 2?

Odd situation but any clever peoples advice welcomed please!

Pay it back through tax system once you know how much you've earned this tax year. Can you off-set any salary, eg buy more pension? Do salary sacrifice for childcare vouchers?

As the tax year has already started it is too late to cancel it anyway.

Take it, save it and declare it on your tax return at which point you'll know your income and how much you have to pay back.

Sorry to hijack, but can anyone clarify:

My DS has been lucky to land a job which will take him over the threshold for claiming CB. However, until he starts at the end of June, his salary has been below the threshold.
So does CB stop as soon as you receive the increased salary, or when you have actually earned the increased salary?

And as my DiL is a SAHM, what does she have to do to safeguard her pension credits when CB stops?

Child benefit doesn't stop at all unless you ask for it to stop. He will have some clawed back if his earnings for the tax year (from 6th April 2013 to 5th April 2014) are over 50,000 and will have to ask to fill in a tax return if this is the case.

Your DDiL will continue to be credited with years towards the basic state pension.

Your DIL still needs to "claim" but she can tell them to not make the payments. So long as she has a child under the right age (and they know about it) she will get the NI credits.