• Children or minors who live with and depend economically on the beneficiary will be considered "dependent children or minors  in permanent foster care or pre-adoption guardianship" provided the other compulsory requirements have been met.

Unless proof is provided to the contrary, it will be understood that economic dependency exists when the child or minor in foster care lives with the recipient. The situation of living together is not changed by temporary separation due to studies, the work of the parents, adoptive or foster parents, medical treatment, rehabilitation or other similar causes.

The status of the dependent child or minor will not disappear due to paid work, as an employee or self-employed, as long as the child continues to live with the beneficiary and the annual income earned from the job does not exceed 100% of the MPW  in force at any given time, calculated on an annual basis.

• The child or minor  will be considered "not dependent" on the recipient:

• If the income received for their job or an income replacement benefit is more than 100% of the aforementioned MPW.

• When they receive a contributory pension from a Spanish or foreign social protection scheme, different from the orphanage pension or pension for family members of grandchildren and siblings.

Parents or adoptive parents will be entitled to the allowance per dependent  child or minor, provided that:

• They legally reside in Spain. This condition will be considered to have been met if workers relocated by their company outside Spain are in an assimilated contributor situation and make contributions to the relevant Spanish Social Security scheme.
  
  Residency will not be considered to have been interrupted if someone is away from Spain for less than 90 days in each calendar year, nor when such absences are caused by duly justified illnesses.  

• They are responsible for dependent children in permanent foster care or pre-adoption guardianship , who are under 18 years old  with a degree of disability equal to or greater than 33 per cent or older than 18 years old with a degree of disability equal to or greater than 65%, and residents in Spain. This condition will be considered fulfilled for dependent children or minors that accompany workers relocated outside of Spain by their employer.

• They have no right to benefits of the same nature under any other public social protection regime.

TRANSITIONAL REGIME In force for those beneficiaries who continue to receive the family benefits of a dependent minor child to be extinguished.

• They do not receive an  annual income, of any type, above 12,913.00 euros. This amount will increase by 15% for each dependent child or foster child, starting from the second child thereafter. No income limit is required in order to acknowledge a beneficiary's status when responsible for a dependent child or foster child with a disability.
  
  In the case of large families, annual earnings must not exceed 19,434.00 euros for families with 3 dependent children. This amount increases by 3,148.00 euros for each dependent child after and including the fourth child.
  
  When living with the parents or foster parents and the total income of both parents exceeds the limit indicated, neither parent will be given recipient status. This rule will likewise apply to permanent or foster care or pre-adoption guardianship, by a single family unit comprising two people.

• However, they may still be recognised as beneficiaries if their annual income exceeding the amounts stipulated in the above paragraph, for any reason is lower than the amount that results from adding the product of multiplying the annual allocation per child or foster child by the number of dependent  children or minors to this figure.

• Orphans of both parents or adoptive parents, under 18 years of age and who are persons with a disability greater than or equal to 33% or over that age with a disability greater than or equal to 65%. 

• Disabled children aged over 18 who are not recognised as being legally disabled   and who are able to work (a condition that is assumed when no proof of legal disability has been provided), shall receive benefits that, by virtue of having had said children, would have been due to their parents or adoptive parents, after having submitted the application and having been witnessed by said parents.

In cases where families live together:

If both parents, adoptive parents or applicants for adoption meet the necessary conditions to be declared the beneficiaries of a single originator, the beneficiary will be:

• One of them, by mutual agreement. It is assumed that there is an agreement in place when one of the beneficiaries seeks receipt of the benefit.

• If there is no agreement, which must be specifically communicated to the INSS , the rules regarding parental authority and custody set forth in the Civil Code will apply. In such an event, the INSS will issue a decision by means of which and after prior recognition, where appropriate, of the entitlement to receive the benefit, payment will be suspended until an appropriate judicial decision is reached.

In instances of legal separation, annulment or divorce:

The beneficiary will be whoever is responsible for  the dependent child or minor in permanent foster care or under guardianship for adoption , even if the person in question was not the same person receiving the benefit prior to the legal separation, annulment or divorce, provided that his/her income does not exceed the annual income limits established for beneficiaries.

However, when both parents or foster parents meet the requirements to be declared beneficiaries, the benefit will be awarded:

• To one person, as determined by mutual agreement. It is assumed that there is an agreement in place when only one party seeks receipt of the benefit.

• If there is no agreement in place and no express legal decision has been rendered, the beneficiary will be named as the person awarded custody of the child or minor.

• When a judicial decision has established that custody of the child or minor must be split, each parent will receive, upon request, a sum that is proportionate to the time that he/she has been awarded custody of the subject. 

The provisions in this section will be applied following the breakdown of a family unit that is based upon a similar emotional relationship as that of a marriage.

For orphans who have lost both parents or foster parents and for non-orphaned children that have been abandoned by their parents:

• The sum will be paid to their legal representatives or those responsible for the "legally disabled" minor or person, provided that they comply with their duty to care for and educate them.

• Otherwise, the sum will be directly allocated to the orphan or abandoned child.

• To provide evidence that the income limit requirement is met, income resulting from employment, capital gains, net worth gains and earnings from economic activities, under the provisions of article 59 paragraph 1 of the LGSS will be considered in order to recognise entitlement to minimum pension supplements, according to the following rules:

  • From 1 January 2013 onwards, income from employment (which, for these purposes, includes Social Security benefits, pensions and other entitlements from Mutual Societies for social insurance, such as retirement, disability allowance, widow/widower's pension and others) or economic activities will be calculated as their net value (net income). Additional provision 14 of the Consolidated Text of the LGSS introduced by final provision 7 of Law 27/2011, of 1 August, amending art. 14 of RD 1335/2005, of 11 November, regulating Social Security family benefits.

  • The total amount of income from investment capital will be considered.

  • For investment capital income, the total amount of income will be considered, less deductible costs according to tax legislation.

  • For capital gains, only net gains with a positive balance deriving from the sale of personal property (shares, investment funds, etc.) or real estate property are considered.

  • Exempt income referred to in paragraphs a), b), c), d), e), i), j), n), o), q), r), s), t), x) and z) of article 7 of the revised text of the IRPF Act will not be calculated, nor will the family benefits referred to in paragraph h) of the above article, or the third person's supplement amount in the event of severe disability pensions.

• To calculate income, income received by the beneficiaries during the tax year prior to birth or adoption (single payment benefit) or the application presentation date (economic allocation per child or minor in foster care) shall be considered.

• For abandoned minors or double orphans, only the income they receive will be considered, providing that they are not in permanent foster care or pre-adoption guardianship.

• In the event that both parents, adoptive parents or foster carers live together, their annual income will be considered jointly. For such purposes, it is presumed that the spouses live together, unless evidence is provided to the contrary, and in no case whatsoever will a lack of cohabitation be considered when temporary and circumstantial separation arises as a result of work or other similar causes.

• When cohabiting with just one parent or adoptive parent, in the event that one parent dies or the marriage is annulled or the couple is legally separated or divorced, income that the beneficiary receives for dependent children as their legal representative and that is received as part of the orphan's pension and the family members' pension for grandchildren and siblings of the originator, shall not be considered.