FAQs - Family benefits

• Can I claim rights to maternity leave benefits if I moved to Belgium to study 6 months ago?

  NO - In Belgium, only people who work or have been self-employed are entitled to statutory maternity pay or a maternity allowance.

• I live in the Netherlands but work in Germany where I have a right to child benefits. My husband is unemployed in the Netherlands - and also has a right to child benefits under Dutch rules. Can we get both German and Dutch benefits?

  NO - you should get only German benefits. If you have a right to family benefits in more than one country, the authorities will work out who should pay them; you won't get full benefits from more than one country. Entitlements based on work always take precedence over those based on pensions or unemployment benefits.
  However, if the German benefits turned out to be lower than what you are entitled to in the Netherlands, the Dutch authorities will pay you the difference.

• I'm Slovenian and commute every day to work across the border in Austria. Are my wife and I entitled to Austrian child benefits for our family living in Slovenia?

  In principle, you are entitled to Austrian child benefits.
  However, if your wife is also entitled to family benefits because she's working in Slovenia, the authorities will work out who should pay them; you won't get full benefits from more than one country. If entitlement in both countries is based on work, you will get your benefits from the country where your children live, i.e. Slovenia.
  If Slovenian benefits turned out to be lower than what you are entitled to in Austria, the Austrian authorities will pay you the difference.

• I'm Portuguese, have been a posted worker in France for six months and will stay another year. Can I get French family benefits for my child, who was born two months ago and lives in Porto?

  NO – as a posted worker, you are insured with your home country's social security system, even if you are working abroad. You have a right only to Portuguese family benefits.

• I work in Germany, my husband works in Switzerland, and we live with our children in Austria. Where can we get child benefits from?

  You can get child benefits from Switzerland or Germany; you won't get full benefits from more than one country. If entitlement in both countries is based on work, even if your children live in yet another country, you will get your benefits from whichever of the two countries where you work that pays the most.

• I know that my husband, who lives in Sweden, is still getting child benefits, even after we divorced and I moved back to my home country, Estonia. Can I get that money for our two children, who live with me?

  YES – contact the family benefits authority in Estonia and ask to have the benefits paid directly to you instead, since you are the person who is actually maintaining the family.

• I am unemployed. Do I have the right to family benefits?

  You are entitled to family benefits according to the legislation of the country that pays your unemployment benefits, even if your family members live in another EU country. If you are an unemployed cross-border worker you receive unemployment benefits from the country where you live and not from the one where you were last insured. In this case, the country where you live will also be responsible for your family benefits. The entitlement to family benefits depends on each country's legislation, so ask your local social security institution for advice.

• I am a pensioner. Who pays my family benefits?

  As a pensioner, you normally receive family benefits from the country that pays your pension, provided that your children reside in the same country. If your children reside in a country that does not pay you a pension and you receive a pension from more than one EU country, the country where you have completed the longest period of insurance is competent to provide you with family benefits.

• I work in an EU country. My spouse lives with the children in another EU country, where s/he also works. Which family benefits will we receive?

  If the parents work in two different EU countries and the children live in one of these two countries, the country where the children live is responsible for your family benefits. Entitlement to family benefits in the country where you work is suspended up to the amount of benefits provided by the country where your spouse works and where your children live. If the amount of family benefits paid in the country where your spouse works and your children live is lower than in the country where you work, the difference will be made up by a supplement paid by the country where you work.

• Where do I claim benefits if the members of my family live in different EU countries?

  You are generally entitled to family benefits in the country where you work or are unemployed. You must submit a claim to the competent institution there, where necessary through your employer. That institution will contact the institutions of the country where your family members live in order to get information about the composition of the family (number of family members, their age, address, etc.). If the country where you work is not responsible for your benefits according to the "priority rules", the institution will forward your claim to the institution of the country that is actually competent which will deal with your claim as if you had submitted it there.

• I am entitled to family benefits for the same family member and over the same period in two countries. Can I receive benefits from both countries?

  NO – you cannot receive family benefits twice over the same period and for the same family member. There are "priority rules" in cases of overlapping entitlements. According to these rules, entitlement to family benefits in one of the countries will be suspended. However, this suspension is never total: benefits due by one country will be suspended up to the amount of the benefits due under the legislation of the country that has the priority. This means that if the amount of family benefit "suspended" is higher than the benefit provided by the country that has the priority, the country with higher benefits will have to pay a supplement corresponding to the difference between the two benefits.