Claiming Child Benefit and Universal Credit with a Child Arrangements Order

Your Court Order Is the Key Document

Once the Family Court grants a "lives with" child arrangements order naming you as the person the child lives with, you hold a sealed court document that proves your legal authority. Schools, GP surgeries, HMRC, and the DWP all recognise it as proof of primary care. This post covers what it unlocks and how to use it.

Claiming Child Benefit

Child Benefit is paid by HMRC to the person who is primarily responsible for a child. Only one person can claim it for each child at any time.

If the parents were previously claiming Child Benefit, you need to submit a fresh claim. HMRC does not automatically transfer the benefit to you. The steps:

1. Complete a Child Benefit claim form (CH2), available on GOV.UK or by calling the Child Benefit helpline
2. Include a copy of the sealed child arrangements order as proof of care
3. If someone else is already claiming, contact the Child Benefit Office about changing who receives it. If you cannot agree, HMRC decides who should claim.

The process can take several weeks. HMRC backdates payments by up to three months from the date of your claim, so file as soon as the order is made.

Guardian's Allowance: If both parents are deceased — or one is deceased and the surviving parent's whereabouts were unknown when the other parent died and reasonable efforts to find them have failed, or the surviving parent had at least two years remaining on a custodial sentence at that date — you can also claim Guardian's Allowance. It is a tax-free weekly payment on top of Child Benefit, currently £22.95 per week. Claim via form BG1 on GOV.UK.

Claiming Universal Credit Child Element

If you are on a low income or out of work, you can claim the Universal Credit child element for a child in your care. The "lives with" CAO is your evidence.

A key change: the two-child limit ended on 6 April 2026. Eligible Universal Credit claimants can now receive the child element for every child, so no separate kinship-care exception is needed for an additional child's element. Report the child when making or updating your UC claim.

Report the child to DWP through your UC journal or in person at the Jobcentre. Provide a copy of the CAO. DWP adds the child to your claim and adjusts your payment accordingly.

Enrolling the Child in School

Schools require evidence that a person making an application for admission has parental responsibility or is the child's primary carer. A sealed "lives with" CAO satisfies this.

Bring the original order (or a certified copy) when you:

• Apply for a school place through the local authority's admissions process
• Meet with the school to complete enrollment paperwork
• Consent to educational trips, photographs, or special educational needs (SEN) assessments

The school should record you as having parental responsibility in their records. You are entitled to receive reports, attend parents' evenings, and make day-to-day educational decisions without consulting the parents, though major decisions about SEN provision or school type may involve other PR holders.

If the child needs a school place urgently — they have just arrived in your care and are out of school — contact the local authority's admissions team directly. The in-year admission process should place the child within a reasonable timeframe, and the local authority has a duty to provide a school place.

Registering with a GP

Take the sealed court order to the GP surgery and ask to register the child as a new patient. The practice needs to see evidence of parental responsibility before granting you access to the child's medical records or accepting your consent for treatment.

Once registered:

• You can consent to routine vaccinations, dental referrals, and standard medical treatment
• You can access the child's medical records
• The GP can share relevant health information with you as the person with parental responsibility

For more complex medical decisions — non-emergency surgery, psychiatric treatment, or anything the treating clinician considers major — the health provider may seek consent from all PR holders. In practice, if you are the child's primary carer and hold PR through a CAO, most routine healthcare decisions are yours to make.

Other Agencies That Accept the Court Order

• Passport Office: Apply for or renew the child's passport. Passport applications for under-16s normally require consent from all PR holders, so you may need to contact other PR holders or apply to the court if they are uncooperative
• Local authority housing: If you need larger accommodation to house the child, the CAO supports a request for rehousing or a transfer to a larger property
• Kinship Zones pilot: If you live in one of the seven pilot areas (Bexley, Bolton, Newcastle, Medway, North East Lincolnshire, Thurrock, or Wiltshire), the CAO may qualify you for the non-means-tested kinship allowance (£176–£309 per week per child in 2026–27, depending on the child's age and area)

Getting the Order in the First Place

The Child Arrangements Order Process Guide takes you through the full application — from checking whether you need permission to apply, through the MIAM, forms, court fees (and Help with Fees), Cafcass safeguarding checks, and hearings. It includes fillable worksheets for tracking paperwork and preparing for each hearing stage.

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