Which children can you get child benefit for?
You can get child benefit for children under the age of 18. This can be for your own child, but sometimes also for other children.
Find out in which situations you can get child benefit.
You adopt a child
You can get child benefit for an adopted child, even if the child is from outside the Netherlands. However, you must register the child with your municipality (gemeente) first.
Your partner’s child has started living with you
You can get child benefit if you and your partner are married, in a registered partnership or living together. You and your partner must decide which of you will receive the child benefit.
Your partner may have made agreements with the child’s other legal or natural parent, for example, in a co-parenting plan. In that case, which parent can receive the child benefit will depend on the agreements made.
You have a foster child
If you have a foster child, you can get child benefit under the following conditions:
- no-one else gets child benefit for the child
- you pay for the child’s upkeep
- you do not get a fostering allowance
- the child lives at home with you
- you are responsible for the child’s upbringing and care on a daily basis
If one of the child’s natural parents is still alive, the child benefit will normally be paid to that parent. However, you can arrange with the parent to have the child benefit paid directly to you.
You are caring for someone else’s child as if it were your own child
If you are caring for someone else’s child as if it was were your own child, we will first check to see whether you have legal guardianship of the child.
You can get child benefit if:
- you are not the child’s parent
- you pay for the child’s upkeep as if it were your own child
- you do not get a fostering allowance
- no-one else gets child benefit for the child
If one of the child’s natural parents is still alive, the child benefit will normally be paid to that parent. However, you can arrange with the parent to have the child benefit paid directly to you.
You can get child benefit if:
- you are not the child’s parent
- you pay for the child’s upkeep as if it were your own child
- no-one else gets child benefit for the child
If one of the child’s natural parents is still alive, the child benefit will normally be paid to that parent. However, you can arrange with the parent to have the child benefit paid directly to you.