Will maternity capital be indexed in 2021?”

Indexation of maternity capital by year

As of today, the Government of the Russian Federation has “frozen” the amount of maternity capital indexation until 2021, and it will amount to 453,026 rubles, the same as in 2015.
Previously, it was carried out based on the percentage of inflation (5-5.5%) annually. Indexation of maternity capital, starting from 2008 and ending in 2021, is presented in the table:

The indexation scheme from 2007 to 2021 can also be seen in the following photo:

What will be the indexing?

Update as of January 15, 2020: The President announced an increase in maternity capital by 150,000 rubles and the issuance of a certificate for the first child.
You can read more about this here. The maternity capital program was introduced on January 1, 2007. This was the first program to support motherhood, and the goal was to increase the birth rate in the country. Indeed, this program has become very popular; most families chose to use the capital to improve their living conditions.

At the start of the program in 2007, the capital was only 250 thousand rubles, but then its amount was revised and indexed every year. The amount of maternity capital increased every year by an amount approximately equal to annual inflation. This was the case until 2015, when maternity capital was increased to 453,026 rubles.

For 4 years now, the amount of maternity capital has not been revised ; the authorities cited the lack of money in the budget for this as the reason. During this time, maternity capital depreciated, even according to official estimates, by 30% (inflation in some years reached double digits).

However, in the draft federal budget of the Russian Federation for 2020-2022, which the State Duma has already adopted in the first reading, it is planned to index maternity capital to the following figures:

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• in 2021 – up to 466,617 rubles, or 3%;
• in 2021 – up to 485,282 rubles, or 4%;
• in 2022 – up to 504,693 rubles, or by 4%.

And if the authorities have already finally decided on the figure for 2021, then the growth in 2021-2022 is still only projected, and it may still be revised later.

Interestingly, maternity capital is again indexed less than the increase in consumer prices - inflation this year is expected to reach up to 4%. But, given the lack of indexation by 30% over the previous 4 years, this is no longer surprising.

Capital indexing after receiving the certificate

Often families “take their time” in obtaining a maternity capital certificate in connection with the upcoming indexation, so that the amount on the certificate is larger.
But you need to understand that funds, namely capital, are issued taking into account indexation by the Pension Fund, and not taking into account the amount indicated on the certificate. That is, if a family received a certificate in 2009 in the amount of 312,162 rubles, and decided to use it in 2021 (that is, directly submitted an application to the Pension Fund), then the amount due for payment will be 453,026 rubles, regardless of the entry in the certificate.

New law on maternity capital in 2021

The amendments that were introduced by Law No. 35-FZ dated March 1, 2020 affected not only the size of maternity capital, the range of its recipients and the duration of the program. The changes also affected the rules for registering maternity capital and disposing of its funds:

1. A certificate for maternal capital can be issued without an application . The pension fund itself will request information from the registry office and make a decision based on it. The innovations will take effect from April 1 to 5, 2020 . The head of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation, Anton Siluanov, clarified that the document will be sent by email.
2. From January 1, 2021, the period for issuing a certificate will be reduced. Now the Pension Fund makes a decision in 15 calendar days, according to the new rules - in 5 working days . If additional questions arise, the period can be extended to no more than 15 working days.
3. Starting from 2021, the period for considering an application for the disposal of maternal capital will be reduced. In 2021, the Pension Fund is obliged to respond within a month, according to the new rules - within 10 working days . If the review is suspended, the period will increase to 20 working days.
4. From March 12, 2021, if certificate funds are used for a mortgage, an application for the order can be submitted directly to the bank. The credit institution independently applies to the Pension Fund with the necessary package of documents.
5. From March 12, 2021, maternity capital can be used for the construction and reconstruction of residential buildings (individual housing construction projects) on garden plots. If housing on such land was built earlier at your own expense, then you can receive compensation for the built house from maternal capital.

The balance of maternity capital - how is it indexed?

The narrow focus of maternity capital funds leads people to receive one-time payments:

• In 2015, the payment amounted to 20,000 rubles.
• In 2021, the amount increased to 25,000 rubles.

This raises questions for families: is it worth receiving lump sum payments, how will maternity capital be indexed after the amount of payments is reduced, and will the balance be indexed at all?
The answer is simple: the balance of maternity capital after the lump sum payments are made is indexed according to a coefficient similar to what it would be if the amount were untouched.

Thus, you have two options for the “development of events”:

• If you withdrew 12,000 rubles twice in 2009 and 2010, respectively, then the amount “to be issued” in 2021 will be 419,779 rubles, taking into account the indexation of maternity capital.
• If you received one-time payments not only in those years, but also in 2015 in the amount of 20,000 rubles, and in 2021 in the amount of 25,000 rubles, then the balance “on the balance sheet” of your state account will be 374,779 rubles, taking into account indexation.

If you continue to be tormented by vague doubts, then in your personal account on the Pension Fund website you can always find out the balance of maternity capital at a given time.

Is the remainder indexed or not?

The above information applies to those individuals who have become participants in the maternity capital program, but have not yet taken full advantage of the funds provided.

By the way, if we look at the statistics, only 46 percent of participants in state support measures use the funds in full.

Others are limited to just lump sum payments or use a small part of the total amount provided by the state.

Well, what should those who managed to try their luck and have already paid some amount from maternity capital towards one purpose or another do? Will it be indexed after withdrawing 20 thousand?

As you remember, funds can be spent in four areas: these include the purchase of housing, and as a result, improvement of living conditions, contributions to the funded part of the parents’ pension, education for the child, and rehabilitation of disabled children.

So, if you have already spent any part of your maternity capital, and a resolution has been issued on indexing the amount of maternity capital, will this innovation also affect you?

Should you expect the amount to increase, or will it remain the same?

We hasten to please you. Whatever the balance in the maternity capital account, it is also, just like the entire amount, subject to the indexation procedure.

This means that the remaining funds will be increased by exactly the percentage by which inflation in the country as a whole has increased. Therefore, no matter how much money you have, they will all be increased in proportion to the decree of the central bank and the pension fund.

Nuances of indexation when issuing and using capital

If twins were born, there are two different opinions “among the people”: either maternity capital will be “double” or not at all, since the children were born “at the same time”. Both opinions are not based on the law, and the law says:

• If this is the first birth, then the mother is entitled to maternity capital, regardless of who is the first and who is the second of the twins, the very fact of the birth of the second child is established.
• If twins are the second and third child for the mother, then maternity capital is paid in a single amount. But this payment is made from the federal budget, and you can also count on the regional one. It is necessary to complete the registration procedure and receive additional funds for the implementation of regional maternity capital.

At the same time, regional maternity capital is not subject to indexation. As a rule, it is issued to families with two or more children, and its size is about 100,000 rubles (as, for example, in the Rostov and Moscow regions) and since 2011 its size has not changed.

Indexation of maternity capital occurs annually, and it often happens that families, approaching the threshold of using it, break up. The male half of the family begins to claim maternity capital, since they consider it acquired in marriage, and there are two options:

• If maternity capital has not yet been “used” for the purchase of housing (and other needs), most often lawyers take the female side, since capital is interpreted unambiguously as “maternal capital”.
• If real estate was purchased with the participation of these funds, then it is necessary to submit payment documents confirming whose party bore the costs of the acquisition, hence the court decision on this issue.

What is maternity capital

It follows that maternal (family) capital is budget funds that, through the structures of the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation, are directed to the implementation of additional measures of state support for families with 2 or more children.

Art. 2 of this law refers to such measures:

• increasing the level of pension provision;
• improvement of living conditions,
• child's education.

Cash benefits are issued in the form of a special certificate, which can be used after the child reaches 3 years of age.

But from 02/01/20, changes will be made to the procedure for issuing maternity capital. They were announced in the Address of the President of the Russian Federation to the Federal Assembly on January 15, 2020:

• capital will be issued even after the birth of the first child;
• its amount for the second, third or subsequent child will be increased by 150 thousand rubles compared to the base one (in 2020 it is 466,617 rubles);
• changes must be legalized before 01/15/20 and will come into force “retroactively”, that is, from 01/01/20.