When your child is regarded as ‘living at home’ or ‘living away from home’
If your child does not sleep at your home for 4 nights a week, they will be regarded as living away from home. You can still get child benefit, but only if you contribute at least €540 per quarter to your child’s support.
Living at home or away from home
In some situations, your child will not be regarded as living away from home. Read more about these situations.
Your child is on holiday
If your child is on holiday or has gone travelling for a few months, they will not be regarded as living away from home.
Your child has been taken into care
In some cases, a child may temporarily be unable to live at home. This is often a drastic measure. For example, the child may have to stay with a foster family or live in an institution for a period of time. In such cases, the child is regarded as living away from home, irrespective of the duration.
Your child is admitted to hospital
A child being admitted to hospital can be a traumatic experience.
If the hospital stay lasts less than 6 months, your child will still be regarded as living at home.
If the hospital stay lasts more than 6 months, your child will be regarded as living away from home.
If it is clear from the beginning that your child’s hospital stay will last more than 6 months, your child will regarded as living away from home as from the first day.
Your child lives with the other parent
Child benefit is paid to the parent with whom the child lives. If you are co-parenting , you may have decided together who will receive the child benefit. If you have not made an agreement together, you will each receive half of the child benefit.
Your child is not living at home with you but you stay with your child regularly
If your child is not living at home with you, but you and/or the other parent stay with your child for at least 46 days in a quarter , your child will be regarded as living at home for that quarter.
The days that each parent visits the child in a particular quarter are added together. This includes visits that start in one quarter and finish in the next quarter.
You can get child benefit for a child living away from home if you contribute at least €540 per quarter to your child’s support. This is called ‘costs of support’.
If your child is living away from home for the purpose of their studies, or because of illness or disability, you can get child benefit at twice the basic rate in some situations.