Other situations

Everything does not always go as planned. See how different situations have an impact on benefits from Kela and which allowances and services you may be eligible for in these situations.

Miscarriage

Even if a mother has a miscarriage, she is entitled to maternity allowance from Kela if the pregnancy has lasted over 154 days. The mother can decide whether to claim maternity allowance or not.

Termination

If a pregnancy is terminated, Kela will not pay maternity allowance even if the pregnancy has lasted over 154 days.

Premature birth

If the baby is born prematurely before the start of maternity leave (i.e. over 30 working days before estimated date of delivery), maternity allowance will start on the next working day following the birth. In such a case, the parental allowance period will be extended by as many working days as the maternity allowance period was moved forward. In practice, parental allowance is paid until the child is about 9 months old.

Mother's illness

The father may stay at home to look after the child if the mother is taken ill and cannot look after the child herself. In such a case, the maternity allowance is paid to the father as parental allowance. The father will receive the allowance after a waiting period after the mother was taken ill, which is the day when she was taken ill + 9 working days. The mother may be eligible for sickness allowance from Kela.

Death of a child

If a baby is stillborn or dies at birth or shortly afterwards, Kela will continue to pay maternity allowance until the end of the period, which is usually 105 working days. The mother may also keep the maternity grant. However, parental allowance or child benefit will not be paid.

If the child dies during the mother's or father's parental leave, Kela will pay parental allowance for 12 working days from the date of death, however not later than until the end of the parental allowance period. Payment of child benefit will stop from the beginning of the next month.

Death of a parent

If the mother dies, the father may stay at home to look after the child. If the mother has been receiving maternity allowance, the father may receive it as parental allowance. After that, the father will receive parental allowance in the normal way. The father may claim child benefit for himself and receive single parent supplement to it if he is not cohabiting. If the father dies, his allowances and leave cannot be transferred to the mother.

Moreover, orphan's pension will offer financial security for the child if one or both of the parents die. A surviving spouse or child may also be eligible for survivors' or assistance pension from accident, motor third-party liability, military accident and patient treatment injuries insurances.

Placing a child for adoption

If the parents want to place their child for adoption, they may contact the social welfare office of their home municipality or Save the Children. The mother may take maternity leave and she will receive maternity allowance from Kela. After maternity allowance, parental allowance will not be paid to the mother, but to the adoptive family. It is recommended that the family tells Kela about the adoption to make sure they will not be paid too much allowance.

Collection of allowances and other recovery proceedings

If Kela needs to recover its allowances due to overpayment, the family may contact Kela's Overpayment Recovery Unit and agree on a payment plan. If recovery is not successful, Kela will recover the debt by an enforcement order.

Updated 10/22/12