Important questions about family capital: what will change from January 1, 2021?

Great news for parents - the President has extended the family capital program for another 5 years. In addition, the amount of payments itself has increased. Now, parents with many children will be able to count on receiving 22.5 thousand rubles upon the birth (adoption) of their third and subsequent children. And this is not the only positive innovation.

Until what year was maternity capital extended?

The program for the issuance and sale of maternity capital began to operate at the beginning of 2007, that is, it has been in existence for quite some time. Over 12 years, millions of children were born in Russia, the birth of which became a legal reason for the family to receive an important subsidy.

At the time of its appearance, the amount of maternity capital was 250,000 rubles. As a result, after regular indexations, it increased to 453,000 rubles.

Initially, the program assumed that certificates would be issued for 10 years, that is, until the end of 2021. But the government revised the timing of subsidies upward. So, if you answer until what year the maternity capital was extended, then you can count on it until December 31, 2021. That is, citizens still have time to receive this subsidy.

Important changes! The issuance of certificates for maternity capital has been legally increased until the end of 2026!

If during the remaining period a second or subsequent child appears or is adopted in the family, this unit of society can apply for the issuance of maternity capital.

How many times can you receive maternity capital?

There is an argument that a family certificate can be used for each born or adopted child, but this is contrary to legal norms.

Today, the state subsidy can be received two times, for a total amount of 616,617 rubles:

1. upon the birth of the first child, the certificate will be 466,617,
2. at the birth of a second child, parents become additional owners of 150,000.

How long is the certificate valid?

Maternity capital has been extended, Russian families still have time to fulfill the conditions for receiving it, but what about the implementation of the subsidy?

The recipients themselves choose the time when the money will be used for the benefit of the family

The state has clearly provided for the purposes for which the money allocated to the family can be spent (the family can be complete or partial, official marriage is not required):

• buying a home in any way. At least pay for the entire amount of maternity capital, at least pay part in cash, or even take out an additional mortgage. But it is important that the property being purchased can only be residential;
• it is possible to spend funds on the reconstruction of existing housing or on the construction of your own home;
• the mother can use this money to form her funded pension;
• the money can be spent on the education of your children. For example, to pay for a university, kindergarten, or any educational services in general that are provided by an accredited organization;
• you can receive regular payments from maternity capital in the form of benefits for your second child;
• rehabilitation and payment for other services necessary for disabled children.

If we consider until what year maternity capital can be spent, then there are no restrictions at all. The law does not set any limits. Therefore, you can receive a certificate today and spend it in 10-15 years.

This is especially true if the family plans to use this money for the education of their children. For example, if a child was born today, maternity capital funds will be needed only after 18 years. And the law allows you to wait that long. So, if you are worried and thinking about until what year maternity capital is valid, there is nothing to worry about. When you need these funds, then you will spend them.

What can you spend your maternity capital on in 2021?

According to Art. 7 of Law No. 256-FZ of December 29, 2006, there are four main areas for using maternity capital:

• improvement of living conditions;
• children receiving education;
• increasing the mother's funded pension;
• purchasing goods and services for disabled children for the purpose of their social adaptation and integration into society (a relatively new direction, introduced in 2021).

In 2018, this list of directions for disposing of the certificate will also include the opportunity to receive monthly payments from maternity capital for the second child born from January 1, 2021 for families in which the average per capita income per month is less than 1.5 times the subsistence minimum.

As before, you can use state certificate funds in 2021 after the child turns three years old and is entitled to this type of subsidy. But there are exceptions to this rule, namely:

• directing funds to pay principal or interest on loans (borrowings) for the purchase or construction of housing;
• for the purchase of goods and services for children with disabilities (this fact is reflected in paragraph 6.1 of Article 7 of Law No. 256-FZ).

Starting from 2021, according to the new law No. 432-FZ, maternity capital funds can be spent on preschool education from birth, without waiting for the child to turn three years old.

It is worth noting that the most popular area for using maternal capital today is improving housing conditions (92% of applications). As of mid-2021, over the entire period of the program, 4.7 million Russian families have already purchased housing using a state certificate.

There is a possibility that the delivery time will be extended

Now maternity capital has been extended until 2021, so far there are no other changes in the current legislation. But it’s not a fact that everything will stop there. There is every reason to believe that the certificate program will be extended.

Maternity capital has been extended until 2025 - such information can be found in some sources. But for now these are just rumors. Valentina Matvienko, Speaker of the Federation Council, simply expressed the opinion that she hopes that the government will decide to extend the program until 2025.

But in recent days, news channels have been publishing other important information for Russians. The Ministry of Labor generally proposed making this program unlimited. There is an initiative, and a very good one, but we just have to wait for decisions to be made. If they extend it until 2025, that’s great; if they make the issuance of maternity capital unlimited, that’s absolutely great.

How long does the review process take?

After a citizen contacts the Pension Fund with the relevant application and documents, its employees review the documents within 15 days, after which they issue a certificate in hand or provide a motivational refusal to do so. It should be noted that previously this period was 30 days.

It is also possible to refuse to provide a certificate . In practice, such cases are extremely rare and are associated, for the most part, with incorrectly executed documents. A citizen has the right to appeal a decision to refuse in court.

Attention! There are no clear deadlines for using funds from maternity capital. The family can use it at any time, at its discretion, for any available purposes.

How to get maternity capital

Let us remind you that women who have given birth (adopted) a second or subsequent child since the beginning of 2007 have the right to receive this subsidy. Initially, capital is perceived as a subsidy given to a woman, but important points need to be taken into account:

• if a woman dies, if she is deprived of maternal rights, then the payment is drawn up and received by the father of the children;
• The subsidy funds belong to the entire family. Some people mistakenly believe that they are due to the child after whose birth the certificate was issued. For example, if you buy real estate using maternal capital, it will be registered in the name of all family members;
• if a woman is in a civil marriage, the husband cannot apply for a subsidy and allocation of a share in real estate.

The set of documents is standard, there is nothing special in it.
Maternity capital has been extended until 2021, so if you have the right to receive it, you can contact the Pension Fund at your place of registration or residence and submit the appropriate application.

The list of required documents can be found on the Pension Fund website. The woman must provide her original passport, SNILS, birth certificates of children and family composition.

Previously, applications were considered within 1 month. From the beginning of 2021, the period has been reduced to 15 days.

How did the idea come about?

After analyzing the situation with the birth rate in the Russian Federation, when considering the dynamics, starting from 1990, the Government noted a trend towards a sharp reduction in the number of babies born (and this was not only about the second child - often families refused to give birth to the first).

The result of this dynamics was that the growth of the new population in the country became negative (that is, the death rate for every 1000 people exceeded the birth rate).

Against the backdrop of such a difficult situation with an increase in population, in 2006 a federal targeted program of financial support was developed for all those few families who decided to have a second child.

The program became known as “Maternity Capital” . It provided for a one-time payment of benefits to those families who added another baby, starting from January 1, 2007, a tangible amount of monetary support. At the time the law was adopted, this amount was almost 250 thousand rubles.

The program has fully justified itself.

In 2013, statistics recorded the first time since the collapse of the Soviet Union that population growth in Russia finally became positive (that is, the birth rate exceeded the death rate).

This trend continues to this day, which indicates the effectiveness of the applied measure of state material support.

Subsidy indexation

Initially, when the law on maternity capital was just adopted, the size of the subsidy was 250,000 rubles. But this value was subject to annual indexation. Every year the payment amount became larger: 276,000, 312,000, 343,000 and so on.

By 2015, the amount of maternity capital reached 453,000 rubles. This period was difficult for the state, a crisis, so a decision was made to freeze the subsidy. Until 2021 goals inclusive, this value remained unchanged.

But now, if we consider until what year the maternity capital was extended, it is worth noting the decision to resume indexation. So, from the beginning of 2021 it will increase to 470,000 rubles, and from 2021 - 489,000.

If a decision is made to extend the issuance of certificates until 2025, or they will be issued indefinitely, then indexation will continue and the amount will gradually increase.

The amount of capital: 250,000, 276,000, 312,000, 343,000 and so on.

It doesn’t matter when you applied for maternity capital. If it is not implemented, the amount will also be indexed regularly.

Indexation of maternity capital in 2021 (latest news)

Initially, the maternity capital program, in force since 2007, provided for the indexation of the amount provided taking into account inflation annually from January 1. This provision was in effect until 2016, when, due to the unstable economic situation in the country, the government decided to suspend the provisions on the indexation of various social payments and salaries of officials, which is reflected in Art. 4.1 and 4.3 of Law No. 68-FZ of 04/06/2015

In addition, according to Art. 12 of Law No. 444-FZ of December 19, 2016, which comes into force on January 1, 2021, the amount of maternity capital will remain unchanged at least until 01/01/2020. Thus, there is no talk of any indexation of the amount of maternity capital in 2021 at present there is no need to talk.

Another confirmation of this came on June 29, 2021 at a government meeting, when Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev announced the indexation of the size of maternity capital no earlier than January 1, 2021. The federal budget for the next 3 years is balanced taking into account the fact that maternity capital will not be indexed .

Photo pixabay.com

The amount of maternity capital in 2021

Let's look at the change in the amount of maternity capital over the years for the entire duration of the program and compare it with official inflation data in the corresponding years published on the Rosstat website (see table).

As you can see from this table, the certificate size has remained unchanged since 2015. Currently, the exact amount of maternity capital is 453,026 rubles . The same amount will be paid to families with children in 2021.

As for the indexation carried out in previous years, until 2014 it approximately corresponded to the inflation rate for the previous year (and in 2010 it even significantly exceeded it). However, starting in 2014, the annual increase in maternity capital began to sharply lag behind the rate of inflation in the country, and since 2021, the size of the certificate has been completely frozen. The overall increase in state subsidies over the entire period of the program was just over 81% (with total inflation from 2007 to 2021 amounting to 147% ).

However, since maternity capital is spent mainly on the purchase of housing, the decline in the purchasing power of the certificate over the years has not been so noticeable . Moreover, in 2015-2016. in most regions of the country there was a significant decrease in housing prices, which had a positive effect on the possibility of using the certificate even without indexation.

Now the cost of housing is going up again (including due to the significantly increased demand for mortgage loans in 2021). Therefore, due to the abolition of indexation of the amount of maternity capital, it makes sense for certificate holders to take advantage of government assistance in the foreseeable future (the sooner the better) in order to prevent its further depreciation. The economic situation in the country is still conducive to a favorable solution to one of the most popular areas of using maternal capital - improving housing conditions.

How to spend maternity capital to buy real estate

The vast majority of Russian families spend money on purchasing their own housing. But please note that if you buy an apartment or house without borrowing funds, the child must be 3 years old. We are talking about a child who “provoked” the issuance of a certificate.

Be prepared for the legality of the transaction to be checked by the Pension Fund of Russia

As for applying for a mortgage, since 2015 you can use funds from maternity payments for a down payment when applying for a housing loan, without waiting for the child’s third birthday.

All transactions related to the expenditure of capital are carried out through the Pension Fund. He checks them for legality.

about the author

Irina Rusanova - higher education at the International East European University in the direction of "Banking". Graduated with honors from the Russian Economic Institute named after G.V. Plekhanov with a major in Finance and Credit. Ten years of experience in leading Russian banks: Alfa-Bank, Renaissance Credit, Home Credit Bank, Delta Credit, ATB, Svyaznoy (closed). He is an analyst and expert of the Brobank service on banking and financial stability. [email protected]

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Comments: 24

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Author of the article Irina Rusanova

Consultant, author Popovich Anna

Financial author Olga Pikhotskaya

1. Tatyana
   09.17.2021 at 16:09 Good afternoon.
   I received maternity capital, but at the bottom of the seal the deadlines are written from 04/02/2021 to 07/02/2022. what does this mean? Reply ↓
2. Alexander
   08/29/2021 at 16:39

   The eldest child entered the university. The youngest child was born this year. It’s true that I cannot pay for my studies with financial capital until the youngest child turns 3 years old

   Reply ↓
   Olga Pikhotskaya
   08.29.2021 at 18:28

   Alexander, hello. The education of the older child can be paid for when the youngest turns 3 years old.

   Reply ↓

Can be used early

Yes, now you have the right to dispose of family capital without waiting 18 years. And if previously it was possible to use these funds (partially or completely) ahead of schedule only to pay for medical services, now the list has expanded. In general, we are talking about the following cases:
➤ to improve the living conditions of a large family (construction, reconstruction or purchase of an apartment, repayment of debt on housing loans);

➤ for studying at state universities and colleges;

➤ to pay for medical services, including dental ones.

By the way, those families to whom family capital was assigned under the program of previous years have the same right to early use of funds.