Priority between claimants
Only one person can get child benefit for a particular child. If more than one person has claimed child benefit for a child, claimants take priority in the following order:1Sch 10 SSCBA 1992 •the person with whom the child lives;
•the female partner, where a man and woman are married or in a civil partnership;
•a parent, including a step-parent or adoptive parent;
•the mother (including stepmother), if the parents are living together but are not married or in a civil partnership;
•in any other case, the person agreed by the claimants;
•if there is no agreement, the person selected by the decision maker at HMRC. There is no right of appeal against this decision, although you can request a revision. Also see here for information on how to complain.
If a new claim takes priority over an existing claim, child benefit continues to be paid to the existing claimant for three weeks after the new claim, unless the existing claimant gives up her/his entitlement at an earlier date.