Have you elected not to claim child benefit?

You may wish to consider the implication this could have on your state pension in later life.

Following the introduction of the high income child benefit charge in January 2013 many new parents have decided not to make a claim for child benefit as their individual income is well above the threshold to be fully clawed back. Although this seems like a sensible idea, in practice this may mean a stay at home parent is not entitled to a full state pension in later life.

Until your child is 12 years old one full year of a child benefits claim, even if you opt not to receive the income, will provide a year of national insurance credits to count toward your qualifying years for state pension purposes (35 qualifying years are required to receive the full new state pension for those born after 1951, at date of writing).

Therefore it is a good idea for a non-earning partner  to register for child benefits and opt not to receive the income to ensure that he or she will still get their national insurance credit.

You can check how much state pension you could currently receive and ways to increase this here: https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension

You can check your national insurance record for gaps in qualifying years here: https://www.gov.uk/check-national-insurance-record

If you think the above may apply to your family or would like to discuss planning for retirement please give our offices a call.

Disclaimer - All information in this post was correct at time of writing.