Child benefit - You look after someone else’s child like a parent

Some children are looked after by a family member or friend instead of their parents. If you look after someone else's child as if it were your own, you can get child benefit, provided that:

• no-one else gets child benefit for the child;
• you pay for the child's expenses. (If you receive compensation for foster care, you will not get child benefit);
• the child lives with you and you raise and care for the child on a daily basis, as if you were his or her guardian.