Informal Kinship Carer Financial Help in England

Most kinship care in England starts informally. A grandparent takes in a grandchild because a parent is in hospital or in crisis. An aunt steps in when a sibling's addiction spirals. There is no social worker, no court hearing, no paperwork — just a child who needs somewhere safe, and a relative who says yes.

The lack of a court order does not mean you cannot claim any financial help. It does mean the help comes almost entirely from national benefits rather than from your local council.

What Informal Carers Can Claim

Child Benefit

You can claim Child Benefit from HMRC even without a court order. The rule is straightforward: the person with whom the child actually lives has priority over someone who merely contributes financially. If the birth parent is still claiming Child Benefit, you submit a new claim via GOV.UK or Form CH2, stating the date the child moved in with you.

HMRC will open a "competing claim" investigation, writing to the parent. This typically takes 4–12 weeks to resolve. Keep records of the child's school enrolment, GP registration or any letter from a social worker to establish when care began.

Child Benefit rates for 2026/27: £27.05 per week for the first child, £17.90 for each additional child.

Universal Credit

You can add a child to your UC claim without a court order. Log in to your online account, go to "Report a Change" then "People who live with you," and add the child. DWP needs evidence of main responsibility — a Child Benefit award, a social worker's letter or school registration documents are all accepted.

The child element is £303.94 per month per child (£351.88 if born before April 2017). If the child has a disability, the Disabled Child Addition adds £164.79 (lower rate) or £514.71 (higher rate) per month.

Section 17 Emergency Help

Your council can provide one-off cash, vouchers or goods under Section 17 of the Children Act 1989 if the child is assessed as "in need." This covers beds, clothing, school shoes and other immediate costs. Payments are discretionary and non-repayable, and they do not affect your benefits.

Guardian's Allowance

If both of the child's parents have died — or one has died and the surviving parent meets specific conditions like a prison sentence of two or more years — you can claim Guardian's Allowance from HMRC at £22.95 per week. No court order is required; you just need to be receiving Child Benefit for the child.

What Informal Carers Cannot Get

Without an SGO or CAO, the council has no obligation to pay you an ongoing allowance. The regular SGO allowance and CAO discretionary allowance are not available without those orders, but a carer in qualifying family court proceedings may still qualify for the Kinship Zone pilot if the child meets its "otherwise in care" threshold and the carer lives in a participating area.

You are also excluded from the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF) unless the child is under an SGO or CAO and was previously looked after by a local authority immediately before the order.

Should You Get a Court Order?

The financial gap between informal care and care under a court order is significant. An SGO triggers a mandatory council assessment for financial support. A CAO gives you legal parental responsibility and strengthens your position with schools, GPs and HMRC.

The decision is not purely financial — court orders change the legal relationship between the child, you and the birth parents. If the arrangement is likely to last, discuss whether an order is suitable with a family solicitor or kinship adviser; financial support is only one factor.

Our kinship financial help guide maps every payment to the legal arrangement that unlocks it, so you can see exactly what changes financially if you move from informal care to an SGO or CAO.

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