# child benefit



## carolegan (Sep 1, 2008)

i will be renting a house in cyprus and my 3 kids will be attending school in cyprus but my husband will be remaining as a uk resident as we have a business there and he will be living between uk and cyprus with a uk address . do i need to inform uk tax office that the kids no longer live in uk or could i get away with their dad getting the child benefit as he is still providing for them


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## BabsM (May 24, 2008)

carolegan said:


> i will be renting a house in cyprus and my 3 kids will be attending school in cyprus but my husband will be remaining as a uk resident as we have a business there and he will be living between uk and cyprus with a uk address . do i need to inform uk tax office that the kids no longer live in uk or could i get away with their dad getting the child benefit as he is still providing for them


Mmm Child Benefit. I think you should check the UK Government benefits websites for this one. Its a while since I got child benefit but if I remember correctly the benefit is paid to the mother not the father. That's historical because in the distant past, in some families, the only money wives got to support/clothe the children was from the husband. If he chose not to hand over money from his wage packet they had nothing. As children were going to school without suitable shoes etc the benefit was brought in and given to the mother.

Again, if I remember correctly, it says in the benefit awards letter that you are legally obliged to notify the authorities of all changes in family circumstances. I would be surprised if you could continue to get the benefit if the children were living abroad.


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## johnsymonds (Sep 3, 2008)

carolegan said:


> i will be renting a house in cyprus and my 3 kids will be attending school in cyprus but my husband will be remaining as a uk resident as we have a business there and he will be living between uk and cyprus with a uk address . do i need to inform uk tax office that the kids no longer live in uk or could i get away with their dad getting the child benefit as he is still providing for them


I think Babs is right on that one


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