Moving Abroad With Kids: The Family Money Checklist

Moving abroad with children multiplies everything — the paperwork, the emotions, and the money questions. It also multiplies the upside: families often save more than any other household type. Here’s the money side, organised.

Education: the budget line that swings the most

• Public schools in your new country are typically free and, in much of Europe, excellent — the full-immersion route that costs nothing but courage.
• International schools preserve curriculum continuity at a price: commonly €8,000–25,000+ per child per year depending on city and school. For two kids, this single decision can outweigh every other saving of the move.
• 529 plans: generally keep them — growth is tax-free (US-side) when spent on qualified education, several hundred foreign universities are on the eligible institutions list, and from 2026 up to $20,000 a year can go to K-12 tuition (whether a foreign international school qualifies is untested — ask before relying on it). But your new country may not respect the wrapper’s tax treatment, and new contributions from abroad deserve a think. Classic cross-border advice territory (Advisor Matching).
• The European university plot twist: if your family stays, university in Europe can cost a fraction of US tuition — potentially the single largest financial win of the entire move.

Healthcare: usually the family’s biggest saving

Family health coverage is where US costs are cruelest and European systems shine. Visa-compliant private family policies typically cost a fraction of unsubsidised US family premiums, and residency usually brings public system access for children quickly (the three layers). Budget honestly for the transition weeks — kids have a talent for needing a doctor mid-move (bridge cover).

The kids’ own money

• Custodial accounts (UTMA/UGMA) face the same expat-brokerage question as your accounts — confirm policies before the move (brokerage guide).
• Your US-citizen kids are… US taxpayers. Their future foreign accounts can eventually trigger FBAR; investments in local funds would hit the same PFIC wall yours would. Small stakes now; worth knowing before opening the cute local savings account.
• Child benefits abroad: several European countries pay meaningful monthly child allowances to resident families — check your destination’s rules; it’s real money.

Protection and paperwork

• Life insurance sized for the new plan — international school fees change the coverage math (the expat life insurance guide).
• Guardianship across borders: your will’s guardianship provisions need to work in two legal systems — a must-do item in cross-border estate planning.
• The family emergency pack: if something happens to the parents, can anyone find the accounts, policies and instructions? This is exactly the Emergency Information Pack.

The Child Tax Credit and the FEIE trap

Your US-citizen kids also keep a US tax perk: the Child Tax Credit, up to $2,200 per qualifying child, of which up to $1,700 can be refunded to you even if you owe no US tax. Two conditions bite abroad. First, the child and the taxpayer (or the spouse on a joint return) need a work-valid Social Security number — a child born abroad who never got one is invisible to the credit until you fix that. Second, the refundable part depends on earned income.

That second condition is the trap. If you exclude all your earned income under the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion, the credit sees no earned income and the refundable part disappears. Families who instead use the Foreign Tax Credit — crediting the tax already paid to the new country — keep their income visible and can preserve the refund. It’s a choice, not a default, and the wrong default costs real money per child per year.

What a child allowance is worth

“Meaningful monthly child allowances” means, in Germany, Kindergeld of €259 per child per month in 2026, paid to resident families. Other countries run their own versions.

Check two things before you count on it: whether your residence permit qualifies (it can depend on how long you’ve been in the country), and how your US return treats a foreign family benefit — a question for your preparer rather than a forum. Budget it conservatively; it tends to arrive months after you apply.

Keeping the 529 intact

Whether your international school counts for the K-12 allowance is the open question above; the university side is clearer. Foreign universities qualify because they take part in US federal student aid, which is also why the list moves — a school that leaves the aid programme leaves the list. Check the specific institution the year you need it, not the year you moved.

Two habits protect the wrapper: keep receipts matching each withdrawal to a qualified expense, and find out how your new country taxes the growth before a big withdrawal. A tax-free US account can be a taxable foreign one at the same moment.

Your child’s own FBAR

A child’s foreign accounts are the child’s, and so is the filing. If accounts in a child’s name — the local savings account, a custodial account moved abroad — together exceed $10,000 at any point in the year, an FBAR is due in the child’s name, filed with FinCEN by 15 April (automatically extended to 15 October) and signed by a parent.

Form 8938 exists for children too, but its thresholds for people living abroad start at $200,000 at year-end, so it is rarely in play. The fix: put the kids’ accounts on the family’s master inventory next to yours, and check the total once a year.

Budgeting the family move

Run the numbers per scenario, not per Pinterest: public vs international school changes everything else. Our free calculator gives the base picture; the school decision layers on top. And build a fatter transition buffer than a couple would — families burn more cash in the messy first 90 days.

This article is general information, not financial, tax or legal advice. Rules on schooling, benefits and accounts vary by country — verify locally.