Children in your care
If you have a baby, or a child enters or leaves your care, you must tell us as soon as possible as it could affect your payments.
If you’ve had a baby, you need to tell us the date the child was born.
We’ll work out if the change affects what you’re getting from us.
How to tell us
- Fill out a change in circumstances form.
- Either:
- register your child's birth with Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) using SmartStart and agree to share this information with the Ministry of Social Development (MSD)
- provide a verified copy of your child's birth certificate.
- Log in to Connect and upload your:
- form
- verified birth certificate, if you haven't registered your child's birth with DIA and agreed to share this with MSD.
You have a partner
If you're under 24, having a baby may mean we now consider you and your partner to be in a recognised relationship which means you could now either:
- be able to get a Student Allowance or
- your Student Allowance payment could be affected.
How to tell us
If you're in a recognised relationship, you'll need to:
- apply online (if you haven't already applied) if you're now able to get a Student Allowance
- get your partner to fill out Student Allowance partner's application form
- get your partner to provide a verified copy of their birth certificate (if we haven't already seen it)
- log in to Connect and upload your form and verified birth certificate
If you’ve recently started caring for a child, you need to tell us:
- the date the child entered your care
- the child’s relationship to you.
We’ll work out if the change affects what you’re getting from us.
How to tell us
- Fill out a change in circumstances form.
- Provide:
- a verified copy of the child's birth certificate
- if the child's not yours or you have shared care, confirmation from the parent or court that the child is in your care (eg a custody agreement).
- Log in to Connect and upload your form, verified birth certificate and other documents.
You have a partner
If you're under 24, having a baby may mean we now consider you and your partner to be in a recognised relationship which means you could now either:
- be able to get a Student Allowance or
- your Student Allowance payment could be affected.
How to tell us
If you're in a recognised relationship, you'll need to:
- apply online (if you haven't already applied) if you're now able to get a Student Allowance
- get your partner to fill out Student Allowance partner's application form
- get your partner to provide a verified copy of their birth certificate (if we haven't already seen it)
- log in to Connect and upload your form and verified birth certificate
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