What is paternal capital? What is its amount? Who is entitled to the payment and what can it be spent on? The answers to these and other questions are in our material
The maternal (family) capital program has been operating in Russia for almost 20 years. In 2024, the amount of payment reaches 833 thousand rubles. You can spend the certificate on buying housing and education. And not only the child’s mother can take advantage of the benefit, but also the father. In which cases, we tell you in our material.
Content
- What is paternal capital?
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The amount of paternal capital
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Who is entitled to paternal capital
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How to get father’s capital
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What can I spend my father’s capital on?
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Paternal capital for the third child and other support measures
What is paternal capital?
Paternal capital is not a new measure of support. We are talking about a program that was launched in Russia in 2007 and is called maternal (family) capital. So far, the program is valid until 2026. “There is no concept of “paternal capital” in the current legislation. This expression is rather a folk one and is used to refer to the same mother capital (which is listed in the law as family capital) when a man becomes its recipient,” said Alyona Antonova, a lawyer and partner at the Stream law firm.
Family capital refers to federal budget funds that are allocated to support families with children. Women and men can use the payment. “In fact, the parent (mother or father) receives an electronic certificate confirming his right to use a certain amount of money to provide for children,” explained Alexey Panfilov, head of Panfilov and Partners, lawyer
The amount of paternal capital
Initially, the maternity capital was given to families where the second child was born. But in 2020, the program was expanded and families with one child also received the right to a certificate. In addition, the mother capital is indexed annually in accordance with inflation. This also affects the amount of the payout. So, in 2024, the amount of payment increased by 7.4%.
Thus, until February 1, 2024, the size of the mother capital was:
Since February 1, 2024, the amount of the payment has increased to:
In addition, if the family has already managed to dispose of part of the capital, the remaining funds will still be indexed by 7.4%. For example, if 290 thousand rubles are not received, then in 2024 this amount will increase to 311 thousand rubles.
Paternal capital is used to refer to the same mother capital when its recipient may be a man (Photo: Shutterstock)
Who is entitled to paternal capital
Fathers can claim the payment in the following cases:
“The right to receive paternal capital is granted to a man who, in accordance with the established procedure, is recognized as the sole parent by the father of children born to him by a surrogate mother, and subsequently married and brings up his children in a family together with the adoptive mother their spouse (paragraphs 2, 5 of the Resolution of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation dated 06/29/2021 N30-P),” explained Anastasia Chumak, co—head of the Investor Rights protection practice at Intercession.
At the same time, the father has the right to a certificate, provided that the child’s mother did not use it earlier. In addition, the law establishes certain time frames and nuances for obtaining paternal capital, Alyona Antonova clarified. For example, you can get it if a man:
The amount of paternal capital does not differ from the amounts due to mothers (Photo: Shutterstock)
The right to maternity capital arises only for persons (mother or father) who have Russian citizenship on the child’s birthday. At the same time, there is an exception for the father, the partner of the law firm “Stream” points out. According to her, the presence of Russian citizenship in a man does not matter if the right to family capital arises from the father (adoptive parent) in connection with the death of the mother, the deprivation of her parental rights or the commission of a crime against the child. In such cases, the mother’s right to family capital ceases, but the father does. The full list of such cases is indicated in paragraph 3 of Article 3 of the Federal Law-256.
“The citizenship of the father will not matter if the mother died or lost her parental rights. In this case, the man may be a non-resident. But citizens of the new regions of Russia have the right to paternal capital, regardless of the basis and timing of the acquisition of Russian citizenship,” Alexey Panfilov added.
Stepfathers, as well as men who are divorced from their spouse and raise children on their own, cannot claim paternal capital, Alyona Antonova noted. “The cases of obtaining capital by the father are limited, and the separate residence of the mother is not included in the circle of such circumstances. In addition, the law explicitly states that a man does not have the right to receive maternity capital if he is the stepfather of a previous child, the order of birth (adoption) of which was taken into account when the right to maternity capital arose,” she noted.
The father is entitled to the certificate, provided that the child’s mother has not previously used it (Photo: Shutterstock)
How to get paternal capital
The procedure for obtaining a certificate for a father has small peculiarities. The main one is that the father needs to confirm his right to payment by providing the necessary document. For example, the death certificate of the child’s mother or a court decision on the deprivation of her parental rights.
To obtain a certificate, the father can apply personally or through his representative with an application:
“But the receipt of capital by the mother has been automated since April 2020 and does not require additional applications. Within 15-20 days after the birth registration, the document appears in the personal account on the public services portal,” explained the head of Panfilov and Partners.
The statement itself indicates:
In addition to the application for family capital, the father must submit the following documents:
The decision to issue the certificate is made by the territorial branch of the SFR Foundation, it will appear on the portal of public services. After that, the subsidy can be used. “The deadline for reviewing the application for a certificate is only five working days. The Foundation will request most of the documents necessary to make a decision on issuing a certificate itself from the relevant authorities and departments,” added the partner of the Stream law firm.
To get a certificate, the father can apply to the Social Fund, the MFC or do it on the public services portal (Photo: Shutterstock)
What can I spend my father’s capital on?
An application for the disposal of paternal capital can be submitted on the public services portal, through the MFC or the Social Fund.
1. Home purchase and mortgage
One of the most popular ways to use these funds is to improve housing conditions. In this case, the payment can be spent on:
You can apply for the use of your father’s capital for these purposes when the child turns three years old. You can use the payment without waiting for the child’s third birthday, provided that you buy a home or build a house using credit funds.
The subsidy can be used when participating in preferential mortgage programs. But you cannot buy a plot of land or apartments with the help of your father’s capital. It is also impossible to use the payment for the repair of an apartment or house.
2. Tuition fees
Father’s capital can be spent on paying for children’s education — in kindergarten, school, university or various clubs and sections. Also, at his expense, you can cover the costs of a dormitory for a child, if it is provided by an educational institution.
The certificate itself can be spent on the education of any of the children in the family, as soon as the child, in connection with whose birth the certificate was issued, turns three years old. An exception is made to pay for kindergarten, for these purposes you can use the subsidy immediately.
Paternal capital can be spent for the same purposes as maternal capital (Photo: Shutterstock)
3. Monthly payments
Families with low incomes can make a monthly payment from their father’s capital. The payment can be made by families whose monthly income does not exceed two regional subsistence minimums per person. The amount of the payment will be 100% of the subsistence minimum for a child in the region. You can receive money at the same time as a single benefit for children under 17 years old. You can apply for payment at any time until the child turns three years old.
In addition, the capital can be spent on:
The certificate can be used in whole or in parts, as well as in several directions. For example, part of it should be spent on education, and the rest on mortgage repayment. “The law clearly limits the range of purposes for disposing of capital funds. The main difficulties arise when its recipients try to cash out or withdraw these funds not in accordance with their intended purpose. In such cases, the case may reach criminal prosecution, for example, under Article 159.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“fraud in receiving payments”),” the lawyer noted.
The certificate can be used in whole or in parts, as well as in several directions. For example, part of it should be spent on education, and the rest on mortgage repayment (Photo: Shutterstock)
Capital for the third child and other support measures
If the parent (mother or father) has not received capital before, then the payment is issued at the birth or adoption of the third and subsequent children. For example, if the first children appeared in the family before 2007 (when the program did not work), and the third or subsequent child was born or adopted in 2024. Then the amount of payment will be equal to the maternity capital for the second child and will amount to 833 thousand rubles. In all other cases, the capital for the third or subsequent child is not issued.
In addition to the federal family capital program, regions can provide additional benefits. For example, there is a regional family capital program that both women and men can apply for, the co-head of the investor rights protection practice of the Intercession company gave an example.
“Most often, such a program applies to the third child, but in some parts of the country payments are already made for the firstborn. The amount may vary significantly. It varies from 25 thousand to 700 thousand rubles,” the lawyer explained.
Regions can also provide additional benefits for families with three or more children. Among them:
The conditions and amounts of benefits vary from region to region. “To get detailed information about benefits in a particular region, it is necessary to contact the relevant social protection authorities for a particular region,” the expert concluded.