Maternity capital in the Russian Federation. Answers on questions

1. I plan to get involved in shared construction. I am very interested in the use of maternity capital for this. And if this can be done, then from what moment?

Yes, maternity capital can be used in shared construction. The use cases permitted by law are listed in Government Decree No. 862. It allows the use of MK for settlements with developers, both in the form of an initial payment and in the form of subsequent payments.

2. Is it possible to spend the money received for the child to build a house? And how does this procedure take place?

Of course, this can be done by law. True, for individual construction it is allowed to use no more than 50% of the total amount of maternity capital. For this, an application is written to the Pension Fund. Together with him, the following documents are submitted:

• land title documents;
• building permits;
• the obligation six months after registration in the land registry to register the constructed object in common ownership (the owners must be recorded as the mother, father and children).

If the application is successful, after two months the requested amount will be transferred to the applicant’s account.

3. What difficulties are expected when registering maternity capital? Are there any “pitfalls” depending on the regions?

Depending on the region of residence, of course, difficulties may arise with obtaining and mastering MC. To accurately predict them, it is necessary to understand in which region the applicants live..

For example, in the passports issued by the Federal Migration Service to residents of Crimea in the summer of 2014, there were no marks about the presence of minor children. Accordingly, the owners of such documents cannot receive a certificate that gives them the right to receive maternity capital. Therefore, such Russian citizens need to reissue their passports to receive “children’s money”.

Young mothers who moved from Ukraine to Crimea in 2014, gave birth on the territory of the peninsula and then obtained Russian citizenship, found themselves in an even worse situation. If they have left on the territory of Ukraine any documents necessary to obtain maternity capital, it will be a big problem to return for them. For Ukrainian border guards, the Russian documents received by them are invalid, therefore, these naturalized citizens of Russia cannot leave Crimea for their former homeland..

4. Can I use MK as a down payment when receiving a loan? Is it worth trying to get an additional loan from any bank at a preferential interest later??

Yes, maternity capital can be used as a down payment on a bank loan, but only after 3 years have passed from the date of birth. At the same time, it is not necessary to wait three years for repayment of the loan principal and interest. A number of Russian banks offer their clients appropriate credit and mortgage programs. Among them:

• Sberbank
• Raiffeisen Bank
• VTB 24
• MDM Bank

It is also possible to take out an additional loan against maternity capital. But when the entire amount of MC is fully used, you should not count on any other benefits or privileges from financial organizations.

5. How long can you use the parent capital? Is there a possibility that in a few years it will no longer be possible to exercise your right to payments?

The legislation provides that the right to receive this type of state support can be exercised no earlier than three years from the date of the child’s birth. But the law does not specify the maximum term for obtaining an MK. Therefore, in theory, MK can be obtained even twenty years after receiving the certificate..

At the same time, keep in mind that the program for issuing maternity capital is designed for a decade. The State Duma is already actively discussing the issue of canceling this form of state support from January 1, 2017. So far, the final decision has not been made and it is expected that the law that will decide the fate of maternity capital will appear only in 2016. Therefore, the question: can families who have not used MK for 10 years to receive the funds due to them by right, even after the abolition of maternity capital, is still open. We recommend not to delay the receipt of the financial assistance due from the state.

Another nuance: change in the size of maternity capital, taking into account inflation. At the moment, its size is just over 429 thousand. In 2015, it is envisaged to increase this amount to 453,000 rubles (by 5.5%, in accordance with the inflation rate provided by the budget). But due to the sharply deteriorating economic situation in the country, many Russian officials and financiers are making much gloomier forecasts for the level of price increases..

Recently, the head of the Ministry of Economic Development said that his department expects inflation in 2015 at 9.4%. If the corresponding changes are not made to the budget, it turns out that the amount of maternity capital, taking into account inflation, will decrease by 4% in 2015. This is another reason why parents should not delay receiving money for the birth of a child..

6. I am raising a child on my own, without a wife. Tell me if men have the right to receive maternity capital?

Oddly enough, yes. According to Federal Law No. 256, the right to receive an MC arises in men who are the only ones who have adopted a second or subsequent children. In this case, it is necessary that the corresponding court decision was dated January 1, 2007 or a later date. Another nuance is that a man applying for funds should not have previously used additional state support measures. He must also attach to his application documents confirming the death or deprivation of parental rights of the mother of the child..

7. At the moment I am living abroad. Am I eligible to receive money for the birth of a child to purchase a home or increase my pension?

It is quite possible to obtain maternity capital for Russian citizens abroad. But there are several differences in the registration procedure:

1. A standard application for obtaining a certificate must be certified not by a notary, but by the Russian consulate at the place of stay abroad.
2. If a person has gone abroad for a certain period and still remains registered in Russia, it is necessary to submit an application to the regional branch of the Pension Fund.
3. If he resides abroad permanently and is not registered in the Russian Federation, the application is written to the PF directly.

You can use MK to increase the pension provision, but buying real estate abroad with the help of maternity capital is prohibited.

8. Our baby died a few days after giving birth, we didn’t even have time to register him. Is our family entitled in this case to receive maternity capital??

This is not prohibited by law. The main thing is that the parents have a birth certificate in their hands. If a child who died in the first week of life did not have time to receive this document, the registry office is still obliged to issue it posthumously. This is established by Federal Law No. 241. Further, the procedure for obtaining a certificate for a child who died within 7 days after birth is no different from the standard one. But for children who died in childbirth (stillborn), payments are not due.

An application to the registry office for registering the fact of the birth of a child who died a week after giving birth should be submitted not by the mother, but by various medical workers, depending on the situation:

1. Head of the clinic where the baby was born or died.
2. The head of the clinic whose staff recorded the death of the child.
3. Private practitioner if the birth was not in a hospital.

9. What are the features of the MK registration procedure? What you need to pay attention to when contacting government agencies?

Maternity capital is issued on the basis of a certificate issued by the regional branch of the Pension Fund at the place of residence or registration. To obtain this document, you need to write a statement, attaching the relevant documents to it:

• confirming the fact of birth;
• evidence that the applicant has Russian citizenship;
• confirming the identity, residence and citizenship of the parent.

Employees of the Pension Fund are not entitled to require any additional documents other than those listed above. The only exceptions are cases when the application is submitted by a man adopting a child, or if the infant died shortly after birth..

An application to the Pension Fund office can be submitted both personally and through a representative, on the basis of a notarized power of attorney issued for him. The legislation gives the government agency one month to issue a certificate to the applicant or refuse it.