2. When your child comes home

If your child comes back to live with you full time, you can claim benefits and tax credits for her/him if you satisfy the normal rules (see Chapter 1).

If tax credits or a means-tested benefit like income support (IS) has stopped, you will usually have to claim universal credit (UC) instead (see here). If you were previously getting extra amounts for your child in your IS or income-based jobseeker’s allowance (JSA), you will not get these amounts again unless you have continued to get amounts for another child in the family.

This section provides information about what happens when a child is staying with you some of the time – eg, if s/he is starting to come home for a couple of days a week on a trial basis.