Separated couples and eligibility for Family Tax Benefit (FTB) for a period before separation 007-02020080

This is a Family and Domestic Violence Interaction Point. If the customer is with another person, on speaker phone, or already identified with family and domestic violence concerns, continue with the current business conversation. Otherwise, go to the Family and domestic violence procedure to conduct the risk identification and referral process.

This document outlines how separated couples may be eligible for FTB for a period prior to separation. Separated couples may claim Family Tax Benefit (FTB) for a child for the period they were living together prior to separation. If a determination is made that both parents would have been eligible for FTB for the child, the rate for the child can be shared between them. The Process page contains information about assessing eligibility to FTB for period prior to separation.

Separating Safely

If one or both parents advise they have separated, there are key tasks they should consider in order to protect their personal information. See Separating safely - protecting personal details.

Percentage of care for the period prior to separation

If parents agree on a percentage, payment is made using that percentage. Otherwise, a shared care assessment needs to be undertaken based on details of care arrangements and any other evidence provided by the customers.

If both parents wish to claim, they will each need to lodge an FTB claim and provide the relevant information for the past period.

If only 1 parent is applying for the past period during which they were a member of a couple, the claimant will be required to provide their ex-partner's tax file number and an estimate of their ex-partner's income for the relevant financial year.

Disagreement over shared care arrangements

If 1 parent is paid 100% FTB for a period and their ex-partner lodges a claim for FTB for the child for the same period, or if the total percentage claimed is greater than 100%, an assessment of the actual care arrangements should be undertaken. This may result in a reassessment of the first claimant's FTB entitlement for the period.

Blended family assessments

In normal circumstances, blended family assessments cannot be retrospectively applied. However, when a couple separates, section 29 of the Family Assistance Act (1999) can also be applied to blended family couples. Therefore, this can apply if the couple has not been assessed correctly as a blended family when they became partnered.

Claim includes a claim for Rent Assistance (RA)

If the past period claim includes a claim for Rent Assistance (RA), the customer must also claim ongoing FTB fortnightly payments.

The Resources page contains a link to Office Locator and scenarios for paying a customer for a partnered period when the ex-partner has already received partial or full entitlement, and letter text to use in these cases.