Both parents can receive housing allowance for a child in shared residence
If a child has a registered shared residence arrangement, both parents can include the child in their housing allowance application. The shared residence arrangement must be registered with the National Population Register.
This also applies to children of other adults in the household.
What is shared residence?
After a separation or divorce, parents can agree whether a child will have either a sole residence or a shared residence arrangement.
- With a sole residence arrangement, the child lives with one parent and has contact arrangements with the other parent.
- With a shared residence arrangement, the child has their permanent residence with both parents.
A shared residence arrangement is a legal agreement under Section 36 of the Norwegian Children Act. It means that both parents share responsibility for making major decisions about the child. This is different from a contact arrangement, where the child has a sole residence with one parent, who is responsible for making these decisions. The number of nights the child spends with each parent is not decisive.
The shared residence arrangement must be registered with the National Population Register before both parents can include the child in their housing allowance application.
Are you the parent of a child with a shared residence arrangement?
If you have not applied for housing allowance before, you can check whether you are eligible.
If you have already applied and your child with a shared residence arrangement is not included in your application, you can add the child. This may increase the amount of housing allowance you receive.
You can update your application by signing in to My Housing Allowance. If you are unable to make changes online, contact your municipality's housing allowance office.
Read more about shared residence and joint custody on the Norwegian Tax Administration's website.