Who Is the Owner of the Child Care Benefit Given to the Primary Caregiver?

Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch

Question

In Canada families receive a child care benefit. normally, it goes to the primary caregiver parent, which is the mom. Does this money belong to both the parents, the primary caregiver, or to the child? If it belongs to the parent, is it absolutely necessary to spend it on the child or is it okay if one spends it elsewhere?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate

The Canada Child Benefit is given to the primary caregiver of the child. It is, therefore, the ownership of the parent, guardian, or primary caregiver.

The money is given to ease the expenses of the disabled child upon the family. After basic research, it does not seem that there are any restrictions on how the money is used. However, this is not legal advice, and you would need to speak with the Canadian government or a lawyer for questions related to Canadian civil law.

Hope this helps
Allah knows best
[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat 

Shaykh Yusuf Weltch teaches Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he completed four years at the Darul Uloom Seminary in New York, where he studied Arabic and the traditional sciences.

He then traveled to Tarim, Yemen, where he studied for three years in Dar al-Mustafa under some of the most outstanding scholars of our time, including Habib Umar Bin Hafiz, Habib Kadhim al-Saqqaf, and Shaykh Umar al-Khatib.

In Tarim, Shaykh Yusuf completed the memorization of the Quran and studied beliefs, legal methodology, hadith methodology, Quranic exegesis, Islamic history, and several texts on spirituality. He joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.