Geltendmachung von Unterhaltsansprüchen Beratung und Unterstützung

You are a single parent and don't get money from the other parent for your child? Or do you get too little money? Get advice on what you can do and who can help you.

Parents are obliged to provide for the maintenance of their children. If a parent does not live with his or her child in the same household, he or she is obligated to provide support in the form of monetary payments. If the person obligated to pay child support does not do so, the single parent is faced with the question of how to proceed.

A child has a legal right to maintenance. The Youth Welfare Office can give legal advice to a single parent and offer further support.

For example, letters can be written to the other parent and, if the financial circumstances of the other parent are known, the amount of child support payments can be determined. If the latter is the case, a title can be obtained to garnish the child support. Which measures are to be initiated depends on the individual case. This can be discussed in a personal meeting.

If the single parent wishes, a guardianship can be established. The youth welfare office can then, on behalf of the child, independently approach the parent liable to pay.

It can, for example

• calculate the amount of child support,
• request the parent to make payments
• check the receipt of payments,
• if necessary, file an application with the court for the determination of child support, and
• garnish titled child support.

Even if a guardianship is established, there is no guarantee that child support payments will actually be collected.

A guardianship ends automatically when the child reaches the age of majority.

Young persons of full age can be advised by the Youth Welfare Office on maintenance issues until their 21st birthday. They may also be offered assistance in appropriate cases.

In the case of persons of full age, it is not the parents but only the children who are advised by the Youth Welfare Office.

The mother of a child has her own maintenance claim against the father during the maternity leave period. The youth welfare office can support the mother of a child for her own maintenance claims.

If the father takes care of the child immediately after the birth, he has a maintenance claim against the mother. In this case, too, the Youth Welfare Office can offer counseling and, in appropriate cases, support.

Parents receive counseling until their child is 18 years old.

Children receive counseling from the age of 18 to 21.

Make an appointment with the relevant social center. The appointment can also take place at home if you wish.

A guardianship is established upon request. You can apply for guardianship in writing. The written application is informal and can be written by yourself or at the local youth welfare office.

The Youth Welfare Office also does the following:

• The Youth Welfare Office advises and assists you in asserting maintenance claims.
• The Youth Welfare Office notarizes: Paternity acknowledgments and consents, maintenance claims, declarations of custody for joint custody and maternity acknowledgments.
• The Youth Welfare Office issues certificates for unmarried mothers stating that there is no entry in the custody register and that the mother therefore has sole custody.
• Advice on joint custody and rights of access