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Do you qualify?

You can usually get Guardian's Allowance as long as:

• you’re bringing up someone else’s child or children and both their parents have died
• you qualify for Child Benefit for the child or children you’re bringing up
• one of the parents who died was either born in the UK, was from the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland or had been in the UK for at least 52 weeks during any two year period since they were 16 years old

The EEA countries are Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden.

If you adopt a child you can still get Guardian’s Allowance as long as you were getting it before you adopted the child.

• Child Benefit - do you qualify?

If one parent has died

Sometimes you can get Guardian’s Allowance if only one parent has died, for example if:

• you don't know where the surviving parent is
• the parents were divorced - as long as the surviving parent doesn’t have custody of, or isn’t maintaining, the child
• the parents weren’t married and the mother has died but it’s not known who the father is
• the surviving parent is in prison with a minimum two years left to serve, or is in a hospital by court order
  

How much Guardian’s Allowance will you get?

The amount of Guardian’s Allowance is £13.45 a week per child on top of the amount you get for Child Benefit. This will go up to £14.10 from 6 April 09.

• Current Child Benefit rates

How Guardian’s Allowance is paid

Guardian's Allowance is paid with your Child Benefit payments, and is usually paid every four weeks directly into any bank, building society or National Savings and Investment (NS&I) account that accepts Direct Payment.

• How Child Benefit, tax credits and Guardian's Allowance are paid Opens new window

Does Guardian’s Allowance affect your other benefits?

Guardian’s Allowance doesn’t count as income if you’re claiming tax credits, Income Support, Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance or income related Employment and Support Allowance. It is paid on top of these benefits.

Claiming Guardian's Allowance

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) can usually backdate Guardian’s Allowance for up to three months from the date they get your claim. But sometimes they can backdate it to the point you started to qualify for Child Benefit. However it is best to make your claim straight away to avoid losing money. You should claim Guardian’s Allowance as soon as the child involved comes to live with you.

Try to claim both Guardian’s Allowance and Child Benefit at the same time so that they can deal with them both together. If you can’t apply for Guardian’s Allowance straight away, make sure you apply for Child Benefit.

When you claim you will need to provide:

• the child’s original birth certificate
• the original death certificate for the parent or parents

HMRC cannot accept photocopies.

Where to get a claim form

You can:

• print out a blank Guardian’s Allowance claim form and fill it in by hand
• get a claim pack by contacting the Guardian's Allowance Unit

Before you complete the claim form, please read the notes that go with it.
Once you have completed your form, please send it back to the Guardian’s Allowance Unit at the address shown below.

• Get a blank Guardian's Allowance claim form (PDF, 113K) Opens new window
• Get help with claiming Guardian's Allowance (PDF, 253K) Opens new window
• Help with PDF files

Changes you need to tell us about

There are many changes that may affect your entitlement to Guardian’s Allowance and also Child Benefit.

If you are getting Guardian’s Allowance because one parent is dead and the surviving parent is in prison or in hospital, you must tell HMRC if the surviving parent:

• comes out
• has their sentence reduced
• starts to pay towards their child’s upkeep

There are other changes that may also affect your entitlement to both Guardian’s Allowance and Child Benefit. For example you must tell HMRC if:

• the child you get Guardian’s Allowance for goes to live with someone else
• you go abroad
• your child leaves relevant education or training

Other changes may also delay your payments. It is very important to report changes if:

• you change the account you get your Guardian’s Allowance and Child Benefit paid into - otherwise they may be sending payments to the wrong place
• you change your address, If they can’t contact you at the address you have supplied, your payments may stop until they know where you are living

If you think HMRC have made the wrong decision

If they have looked at your Guardian’s Allowance claim or your details and have come to a decision that you don't agree with, contact HMRC within a month of the decision date. You can ask them to:

• explain how the decision was reached
• check your claim again to make sure their decision was the right one

It's your right to get a proper explanation about a Guardian’s Allowance decision.

If your claim is re-check , they will either change their decision if it is wrong, or stick with their original decision.

If you're still not happy, you can appeal against the decision. If you go ahead with an appeal, HMRC will pass it on to an independent body, the Appeals Service, to look at. The appeals process for Guardian’s Allowance is the same as the one for Child Benefit.

• Appealing against a Child Benefit decision Opens new window

Contacting the Guardian’s Allowance Unit

You can get in touch with the Guardian’s Allowance Unit in a number of ways. You can send in your query online, or you can call the Unit on 0845 302 1464 or textphone 0845 302 1474 from Monday to Friday 8.30 am to 5.00 pm (except for Bank Holidays).

Alternatively you can write to:
The Guardian's Allowance Unit
Child Benefit Office
PO Box 1
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE88 1AA.

• Send HMRC your Child Benefit query online Opens new window

More useful links

• Tell HMRC about a change that may affect your Guardian’s Allowance Opens new window