Maternity capital 2021 – about all the changes in one place

This year, the president’s message was sensational not only because it was followed by the resignation of the government, but also because for the first time in a long time it was said at such a high level that “the fate of Russia depends on how many children are born into Russian families... what they will grow up to be, what they will become, what they will do for the development of the country and what values ​​will support them in life.”

Addressing the Federal Assembly, the president spoke a lot about demographic problems and measures to support Russian families, especially those into which children are born.

Having set the Russians the task of fulfilling a five-year plan to increase the birth rate, Putin promised not only to financially help families below the poverty line, but also to extend until December 31, 2026 the maternity capital program, which he first proposed at a similar speech before the Federal Assembly in 2006.

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The blank on stamp paper is no more

Since March 2021, the Pension Fund has stopped issuing a certificate for maternity capital on state form . Instead, citizens had the opportunity to download an electronic version of the certificate. The electronic certificate will contain all the same data as the previous form:

How to download an electronic certificate?

How do you understand that you have already received a certificate? To do this, you need to have a verified account on the State Services portal (how to do this?). The notification about the issue of maternity capital to you will come there.

The electronic certificate for maternity capital itself can be downloaded from your personal account on the Pension Fund website:

https://es.pfrf.ru/

In the Request History section

In the line Proactive provision of maternity capital

Or directly in the section dedicated to maternity capital:

Maternity capital already for the first child

This is the largest and most significant change that has occurred in the entire history of the maternity capital program. Starting from 2020, the certificate began to be issued for the first child , and for the second child it will increase by 150,000 rubles . In order to understand who is entitled to what amount, let’s look at this change using an example and divide all families into 3 groups. The starting point here will be January 1, 2020 .

• The first group is those who did not have children before the designated date.
• The second group is this group where there is one child born before January 1, 2021.
• The third group is those families where two or more children were born before January 1, 2021.

If after January 1, 2021, the first child is born in families from the first group, then these families fall under the scope of this law and they will receive maternity capital in the amount of 466 617 ₽.

In families from the second group, only 1 child was born before January 1, 2021, so they did not yet have . If after January 1, 2020, these families have a second child, they will immediately receive maternity capital for both children (that is, in an increased amount). Namely:

466,617 ₽ + 150,000 ₽, total 616,617 ₽

Third group. Since all the children in this group were born before January 1, 2021 , these families have already taken advantage of . Thus, the new law had no effect on the amount of capital they now have.

Important! Very often, when families from group II had a second child after January 1, 2021 , the families received a certificate for 466 thousand instead of 616 thousand rubles . This is a fairly common situation and it arises due to the fact that the Pension Fund does not always have data on children born before 2021.

Thus, when a second child is born, the Pension Fund may consider it to be the first. And, accordingly, accrues maternity capital as for the first.

In this case, it is necessary to collect a package of documents and take them to the nearest branch of the Pension Fund. Then Pension Fund employees will make adjustments.

* The package of documents may vary depending on the region!

To understand what’s what, the programmers of our publication have developed a special maternity capital calculator, which in a matter of seconds will calculate the amount of maternity capital you are entitled to, taking into account all additional payments and indexations:

Who can receive benefits?

The right to use the payment of children's money is confirmed by a certificate. The sample document is established at the legislative level. The benefit is due:

1. A woman - a citizen of Russia, who gave birth or adopted a second baby after the launch date of the program - 01/01/2007;
2. A mother with Russian citizenship who adopted or gave birth to 3 babies after January 2007. The woman should not have previously used her rights to pay maternity capital;
3. The father is a citizen of the Russian Federation, who is considered the sole guardian or parent of 2 and subsequent children. In such a situation, two rules must be observed - the legality of the adoption must come into force after 01/01/2007, and until that moment no payment of state assistance was made;
4. To the adoptive parent or father of the child , if the mother’s right to family capital was suspended. Regardless of whether the husband has official Russian citizenship;
5. Minors or adult children who are in stationary education, in equal shares. Provided that the parents or sole guardian have had their right to receive government benefits terminated.

At the time of application, children whose parental or guardianship rights have been suspended or have not received legal force and relevance are not taken into account. Until what year is maternity capital valid? The answer is further in the article (you can use the table of contents, there is the necessary footnote there).

Indexation of maternity capital in 2021

In 2021, the amount of maternity capital will increase by 3.7% . Let us recall that in 2021 its amount increased by exactly 3%, and before that its size did not change for 4 years :

By the way, the basic amount of maternity capital is 250 thousand rubles . This is exactly the amount families received at the start of the program in 2007 . Further, over the course of 15 years, year after year, the amount of capital increased by a percentage approved by the government (which should be no less than inflation). Thus, 250 thousand for 2007 increased to 466 thousand rubles for 2021.

An important detail that many families do not know about. Not the entire amount of the certificate is indexed, but only the balance of funds. Let's look at an example.

Let’s assume that in 2014 the Petrov family spent 200,000 rubles from maternity capital to pay for the university education of their eldest child. Let us recall that its size in 2014 was 429,409 rubles . Thus, starting from 2015, not 429 thousand, but 229 thousand rubles will be indexed:

If, after receiving the certificate, you did not use maternity capital, then the entire amount will increase.

Goals for using maternity capital in 2021

In 2021, there were no significant changes regarding the purposes of using mat capital.

As before, capital can be used to purchase an apartment/house, to renovate a house (with some conditions), to receive monthly payments to low-income families, to socially adapt a disabled child, to a mother’s funded pension:

Not long ago, the Pension Fund noted that maternity capital can be used to study at a driving school. However, this cannot be called something new. A driving school, like a private kindergarten, are educational institutions that must obtain a license from Rosobrnadzor (but this has only recently become mandatory for driving schools). Therefore, if a driving school or private kindergarten has a license, then there will be no problems with using maternity capital for these purposes.

Important! With maternity capital, you can easily pay for driving school tuition for an older child who is already 16 years old; the law does not prohibit this.

Another good news is that from March 2021, capital can be used not only to build a house on a plot intended for individual housing construction, but also on garden plots. As expected, this caused high demand for garden plots in a number of regions.

The possibility of gasifying a house, or supplying electricity to it at the expense of capital, remains just an idea. The same can be said about paying for repairs in an apartment. There have been conversations about this in the government, but so far they have not led to anything concrete.

Important! Now you can spend maternity capital on repairs, but only in a private house and only if the living space is increased (otherwise there will be no improvement in living conditions for the family).

How to obtain a certificate

If the family fully complies with the requirements of the law, then the mother or father can begin obtaining a certificate immediately after the birth of the second baby. To do this, you have to contact PF representatives.

The procedure is divided into successive stages:

• a package of documents is collected to prove that the applicant is entitled to government support;
• the application is drawn up correctly;
• documentation is transferred to the PF representative in different ways;
• the decision is made within 7 days, after which the applicant receives a certificate or a reasoned written refusal.

You can use the document for its intended purpose only three years after the birth of the second baby for whom the benefit is issued. The exception is the appointment of monthly payments transferred until the baby turns 1.5 years old. Additionally, you can immediately use funds to repay a mortgage or other targeted loan received for the construction or purchase of residential real estate.

After receiving the paper, people independently decide for what purposes the money will be used . To do this, you can pay for children’s education in private or public institutions. It is allowed to use the services of even sports schools, sections or clubs. The mother can increase her own future pension, and if the family is raising disabled people, then it is allowed to use maternity capital to buy goods for rehabilitation or adaptation.

Reference! Most often, citizens prefer to use a large amount to improve their living conditions. To do this, it is allowed to buy real estate or build a residential building intended for the residence of all family members. With the help of maternity capital, it is possible to repay the mortgage, but the only condition is that the property be registered not only in the name of the parents, but also in the name of minors.

Extension of the maternity capital program

Not long ago, deputies from A Just Russia proposed making the maternity capital program unlimited . But for some reason the government did not support .

Let us remind you that the program is currently valid until December 31, 2021 . However, at the beginning of this year, President Vladimir Putin ordered to extend the program until 2026 , and this order will most likely be fulfilled.

Buying a car with maternity capital and other innovations

In September, deputies from the Vladimir region proposed allowing maternity capital on buying a car ; before that, such an amendment was proposed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade. Of course, such initiatives were once again not supported .

But there is good news: now some banks can independently send an application to the Pension Fund for the disposal of maternity capital. Previously, in order to use maternity capital to pay off a mortgage, at the first stage it was necessary to come to a bank branch and inform the manager about it, and then go to the Pension Fund branch and write a statement there.

Only after several weeks of checks were funds from maternity capital allocated to pay off the mortgage. Now the procedure has been significantly simplified; all you need to do is write an application at the bank branch itself and it will automatically be sent to the Pension Fund. The list of banks that operate according to this scheme may change over time and depending on the region.

Registration deadlines

The application with other papers is considered within 7 days. Usually, after 5 days, citizens receive a notification containing a positive or negative decision. If the request is granted, a certificate is issued within 30 days and handed to the applicant.

Initially, citizens are notified about the readiness of the document via SMS message or letter sent by email. When visiting a PF branch, you must have a passport with you, and if a representative is involved in the procedure, then he must have a passport and a power of attorney. The certificate is issued exclusively against receipt.

You can apply for documentation at any time, and it does not have an expiration date. Therefore, you can use the funds even after children turn 18 years old. During the indexation of payments, there is no need to re-issue the document, since the amount increases automatically if citizens have not previously used some part of it.

Attention! If people have spent even a little money, the total amount of the payment does not increase, but remains unchanged until it is completely spent.