Disability Living Allowance (DLA) for children is a tax free benefit which may help with the extra costs of looking after a child who:

• is under 16, and
• has difficulty walking or needs more looking after than a child of the same age who doesn’t have a disability

You can claim DLA for a child if you look after them as if you’re their parent. The claim is made up of two components; care and mobility.  For information on eligibility please visit NI Direct Disability Living Allowance for Children

Going Abroad temporarily

You can claim Disability Living Allowance for up to 13 weeks if you’re going abroad (or 26 weeks if it’s for medical treatment).

Residence and Presence Tests

If DLA is claimed for a baby under 6 months old, a 13 week presence test applies until their 1st birthday. If DLA is claimed for a baby aged 6-36 months, the test is 26 weeks in the last 156 weeks. If your child is aged between 3 and 16 years, they only need to have been present for 26 weeks in the last 52 weeks. There are some exemptions to these requirements. If you are covered by the EEA co-ordination rules or the UK-Ireland Convention, you are habitually resident in the UK or an EEA country and you can demonstrate a genuine and sufficient link to the UK you may not have to meet the past presence test. (Advisors see below)

Source: Disability Rights Handbook Edition 46 Chapter 55 Pg. 278

Cross-border issues

Only the care component of Disability Living Allowance can be exported across the border, the mobility component cannot be exported.

Living South

You or a family member may be able to claim the Disability Living Allowance care component if you:

• work in the UK or pay National Insurance in the UK because of work
• have paid enough National Insurance to qualify for contribution-based benefits
• are getting State Pension, Industrial Injuries Benefit, contribution-based ESA or bereavement benefits

Source: https://www.gov.uk/claim-benefits-abroad/disability-benefits

Living North

Until recently children of frontier workers who applied for DLA in Northern Ireland based on their residence were often declined due to their parent’s employment across the border (as that was considered the jurisdiction competent or responsible for their sickness benefits).

However on 21st April 2023 a judgment was handed down that completely changes that interpretation. The ruling states that the child is entitled in their own right, and that they did not need the safety net protection of their parent’s entitlement across the border. Further information 

Frontier workers may also consider an application for Domiciliary Care Allowance (DCA) from Ireland (it is classed as a family benefit, but is quite similar to Child DLA). For more information please visit Citizens Information

For Advisors:

The Kavanagh Case  reinforces that the genuine and sufficient link in disability benefits is to the UK as a whole, not simply the UK’s social security system, and both objective evidence but also motives, intentions and expectations of the claimant are relevant in establishing the link.

This is a helpful case to refer to when looking at the past presence tests for the following disability benefits: Carer’s Allowance(CA), Disability Living Allowance (DLA), Personal Independence Payment(PIP), Attendance Allowance(AA).

Source: CPAG. “4. Principles of co-ordination.” In Benefits for Migrants Handbook (15th edition) 2024.

The Harrington Case sets out eligibility for a child due to residence, rather than linking the child to an economically active parent employed in another jurisdiction. Further information.

NOTE: The Harrington judgement is based on EU Social Security Coordination, so will hopefully also apply to the UK Ireland Convention for Social Security Coordination. Border People’s Cross-border Practitioners’ Group will continue to track this evolving piece of legislation and its cross-border implementation.

Page last checked: July 2025

This webpage is for general information purposes only and while we endeavour to keep it up-to-date, errors may occur. It is very important that you check with the relevant body to ensure the information is current and is applicable to your situation.

If you would like to suggest amendments or highlight new information that could be useful to others please don’t hesitate to get in touch.