Is it possible and how to withdraw money? Where can I cash out maternity capital? How to do this before and after the child’s third birthday? Yuri Kapshtyk answers questions about the possibilities of withdrawing funds for family needs .
The maternity capital program has been operating in Russia since 2007, and this year it has undergone changes. Starting from 2020, money is allocated to young families at the birth of the first baby; this amount is 483,881 thousand rubles. For the birth of the second they give 639,431 thousand rubles, for the third and subsequent ones - the same, for a total of 616 thousand rubles.
Maternity capital is not provided for the birth of every child. This amount is paid to the family once, so if you have already received and used maternity capital before 2020, you will not be able to apply for it again.
The conditions for obtaining a certificate have been simplified. Starting this year, a young mother does not need to submit documents to the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation. Information about the birth of the baby will be sent there by the registry office staff, the certificate will be issued automatically, and the money will be deposited into the woman’s individual account. These funds can be used for strictly established legal purposes:
- improve living conditions;
- pay for the education of children: not only the child at whose birth the payment was made, but also other children in the family;
- provide a disabled child with means of rehabilitation and adaptation.
But is it possible to cash out maternity capital if the family needs money for other purposes?
“There are no legal ways to cash out maternity capital,” notes lawyer Yuri Kapshtyk. “This is not tolerated in any form.”
Illegal schemes
On the Internet you can find dozens of advertisements where they promise to legally cash out maternity capital. For this, different schemes are used. For example, a fictitious purchase of housing from close relatives. Or they enter into an agreement to buy an apartment, take capital funds, and then break this agreement.
“If parents or other persons who have registered maternity capital cash out money in any way, they become accomplices in the crime and bear criminal liability for this,” clarifies Yuri Kapshtyk. — In practice, there are schemes where maternity capital funds are raised under the conclusion of a fictitious share participation agreement. But everything depends on the participants in such a scheme. Any equity participation agreement is subject to state registration, and the legality of the actions of each party will be checked. In addition, buyers are required to provide a certificate from the Pension Fund confirming their consent to such actions. If the transaction is illegal, the Pension Fund will not provide supporting documents.”
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There are cases when a family is forced to withdraw money to purchase housing. For example, when maternity capital funds were used to purchase an apartment in a building under construction, and the developer froze the property. In order to prevent the money from burning out, parents can terminate the contract with the developer and demand a refund of the amount. In such situations, the pension fund takes the side of the families, but they will still have to prove why the contract needs to be terminated and where the money will be sent.
What to do if you are accused of illegally cashing out maternity capital?
A reasonable question arises as to how to defend against accusations of this crime:
- it is necessary to prove the reality of the transaction being concluded
- prove that maternity capital was sold for its intended purpose ; to confirm this, in addition to documents, you can also provide testimony, in particular from the seller, if we are talking about improving living conditions
- At the same time, we should not forget about the materials characterizing the accused, because these circumstances significantly influence the final judicial act in terms of punishment
In any case, you should contact our fraud lawyer as quickly as possible to solve your problem. Therefore, call us now and we will begin your task: professionally, on favorable terms and on time.
How to cash out maternity capital with money
Last year, maternity capital funds were allowed to be used to pay monthly benefits - child support subsidies. This year, young families can also benefit from this help. Receiving a subsidy cannot be called a way to cash out maternity capital; rather, it is an opportunity to use funds aimed at supporting the family at a time when the need for help is especially acute.
For example, in the first months of a baby’s birth, when the family’s financial needs increase. The subsidy allows you to withdraw maternity capital until the child is three years old in the form of small monthly payments, the amount of which is equal to the subsistence level. Each region has its own.
“Families whose income for each family member does not exceed two minimum wages can apply for a subsidy,” clarifies Yuri Kapshtyk.
This year the minimum wage in Russia is 12,130 rubles. To receive a monthly subsidy, you need to provide the Pension Fund with documents confirming that your family income is less than that established by the state.
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Legislation
The right to maternal capital is written down in Article 3 of Law No. 256-FZ of December 29, 2006. Persons who gave birth to or adopted a second child can apply for budget funds (from 01/01/07):
- mothers (mostly);
- fathers;
- guardians;
- adoptive parents.
Attention: in exceptional cases, a certificate is issued to the child himself, who gave his mother or father the right to receive it (after adulthood). This happens if the main applicant did not have time to issue a certificate or spend money due to:
- of death;
- deprivation:
- parental rights;
- legal capacity;
- recognition as missing.
Article 7 of the above law outlines the purposes for which funds can be spent. They are strictly defined and controlled by law enforcement agencies. There are several goals:
- improving the living conditions of the family;
- payment for educational services for any child;
- purchasing rehabilitation means for disabled children (the order does not matter);
- formation of a funded pension for mother.
Hint: from 01/01/18 it is allowed to receive money in cash monthly in the established amount.
The payment procedure is described in Law No. 418-FZ of December 28, 2017. Maternity capital fraud is a criminal offense. Moreover, all participants in fraud with budget money are held accountable.
Judicial practice has accumulated many examples of cashing out and other illegal use of funds under the maternal certificate. Most of them are related to direct fraud, that is, forgery of documents. Misuse of maternity capital is less common. Such an act is not always characterized by malicious intent. Unfortunately, I do not exempt citizens from liability under the Criminal Code (CC) of the Russian Federation.
Download for viewing and printing:
Federal Law of December 29, 2006 N 256-FZ (as amended on March 7, 2018)
Federal Law of December 28, 2017 N 418-FZ On monthly payments
Special nuances of the law
Government funds are not issued in cash (with the exception of the new clause on monthly benefits). The owner of the certificate can dispose of money only through the branch of the Pension Fund (PFR). You must bring a package of documents to the government agency justifying the legality of the expenditure. After verification, the money will be transferred to the addressee (service representative or seller of the residential premises). In general, the right to dispose of a certificate occurs after the child is three years old. This does not apply to mortgage interest payments. You can spend government benefits on them from the date the certificate is issued.
For further consideration of liability for violation of the law regarding the use of maternal capital, it is necessary to cite the norm of the Criminal Code. The text of the document provides a gradation of damage that affects the amount of punishment. In particular, the paragraphs contain the concept of major damage. This is recognized as a stolen amount exceeding RUB 250,000.0.
Attention: in 2021, the amount of maternity capital is 466,600.0 rubles. Fraud involving such an amount falls into the category of major damage caused to the state. The latter circumstance can also aggravate the guilt.
Paying off a mortgage loan with capital
If the mortgage was issued earlier and you plan to repay part or all of the loan using maternity capital, you need to perform the following steps:
- Request a certificate from the bank about the remaining repayment amount. Inform the specialist about your desire to use maternity capital and repay part or the full amount ahead of schedule.
- Send a package of documents along with a bank certificate to the Pension Fund and wait for a decision.
- Review is carried out within 30 days . If the borrower acts within the established legislation, the Pension Fund transfers funds to the lender’s account within 30 days.
When partially repaying a mortgage loan, the bank must provide a new repayment schedule with a recalculated amount of debt.
Banks that provide mortgages against maternity capital
Documents for payment of the Mortgage:
- title package of documents (copies);
- maternal capital certificate;
- cadastral passport (copy);
- form No. 9;
- documentation indicating the condition of the housing facility;
- SNILS;
- certificate of total debt under the mortgage agreement;
- a copy of the loan agreement;
- certificate of registration of housing.
Attention: The Pension Fund may require additional documents to consider the application.
Responsibility for misuse of family subsidies
Responsibility for using maternal capital for purposes other than its intended purpose is regulated by the second part of Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. This crime is punishable by up to two years of probation.
For someone accused of fraud, everything will depend on the scale of the criminal act and how many people were involved in the criminal scheme.
According to the Department of Economic Crimes, most of the economic crimes investigated in their department relate to fraud with family capital.
The verification of misuse is initiated by the Pension Fund , one of whose departments is responsible for monitoring such cases.
The fact that any unlawful actions with maternity capital is regarded by the Criminal Code as fraud with significant damage plays against potential fraudsters.
Significant damage, according to the Criminal Code, is equal to an amount of at least 10 thousand rubles. What responsibility for misuse can be incurred if fraud is proven in court?
- Correctional work.
- House arrest.
- Suspended prison sentence.
- Fine.
According to statistics from the same Department of Economic Crimes, suspended imprisonment is most often used.
If aggravating factors are found, such as giving a bribe to an official or a conspiracy prepared in advance by a group of people, the punishment can reach up to 10 years in prison.
But these cases are rare and are possible only with very large-scale fraud with cash subsidies.
What is meant by fraud using maternity capital?
Any actions of the certificate holder that do not comply with Art. 7 Federal Law No. 256.
Types of fraud:
- Purchasing housing not intended for living (for example, a summer house);
- Purchase of land;
- Conspiracy with third parties to provide false information to the Pension Fund;
- Real estate transactions concluded between husband and wife (cohabitees, divorced);
- Deliberately inflating the cost of housing;
- Sale of real estate previously purchased for MK, without prior allocation of shares to children and approval from the guardianship authorities;
- Purchasing a small share in real estate;
- Other actions aimed at obtaining funds illegally
You cannot use maternity capital to buy an apartment from your former (current) husband or cohabitant. Transactions between other close relatives are not prohibited. This provides a small loophole for cashing out funds.
Thus, a daughter may well “buy” an apartment from her parents, who, after receiving the money, will give it to the former owner of the certificate. Such transactions may be considered imaginary, but they are extremely difficult to prove. As a rule, in such cases there is no punishment.
Example: Citizen Simonenko S. M. lives in a civil marriage with citizen Sleponenko L. V. The family has two common minor children. Citizens entered into a criminal conspiracy to cash out funds from MK, having drawn up a purchase and sale agreement for an apartment owned by a man. The attempt at deception was discovered when checking documents by Pension Fund employees, in particular the paternity records in the children’s birth certificates.
Buying a share in an apartment owned by several owners is impossible and is considered fraud. The exception is cases when, after acquiring part of the real estate, it completely becomes the property of the certificate holder.
It is also not possible to buy a non-residential apartment or house for MK, in which it is impossible to register (register). The building must be suitable for accommodation of minor children, i.e. All vital communications are connected to it. It is not necessary to have a bathroom inside the house; it can be located outside. However, the building itself must comply with SNiP and SanPin standards.
After purchasing real estate for MK, parents are obliged to allocate shares to their children. This rule cannot be ignored.
If such an apartment (house) is sold, the transaction will be considered fraud. However, if parents want to buy another home, they can resolve the issue with the guardianship authorities; if they agree, the children are allocated shares in the new home, and the one purchased for MK is sold.
Thus, we can conclude that the line between legal and illegal use of maternity capital is very fragile. In fact, citizens who carried out the transaction according to all the rules may also be suspected of fraud. At the same time, it is important to have a strong evidence base. Without it, it is impossible to hold the certificate holder accountable.
Compensation for expenses for child adaptation
Money from maternity capital can be transferred to an account if a child has a disability and needs adaptation. This is not the same as rehabilitation.
The list of goods and services for which you can get money in such a situation does not contain many items. But families whose child is not healthy will be able to take care of what is more important now instead of a mortgage and tuition fees for a university. The pension fund will check the documents for payment for a lift, a special bath or a computer and transfer the entire amount to the parents.
Unfortunately, you won’t be able to get money for treatment this way. It is believed that the state should pay for restoration or prosthetic services under a separate budget item and not at the expense of maternity capital. But at least it's something. If the child’s health condition is such that treatment will not help much, then he needs adaptation in any case. For example, a special computer, smartphone or secretarial services will help blind and deaf children learn, develop and communicate with the outside world.
