Germany Child Support: A Parent's Guide

In short: German child maintenance, Kindesunterhalt, is a family obligation set out in the BGB (§§ 1601 to 1615), not a separate child-support statute. There's no single legislated formula, instead, courts across Germany apply the Düsseldorfer Tabelle, a guideline table matching the paying parent's net income against the child's age bracket, developed and updated by the Oberlandesgericht Düsseldorf together with the other higher regional courts. A statutory floor, the Mindestunterhalt under § 1612a BGB, sets the legal minimum regardless of income, and Kindergeld (child benefit) is credited against what the paying parent owes.

This is an educational overview written for parents, not lawyers. It isn't legal advice. For anything beyond general understanding, talk to a licensed German family law attorney (Fachanwalt für Familienrecht) or your local Jugendamt (youth welfare office), which offers free Beistandschaft (support administration) assistance for calculating and pursuing Kindesunterhalt.

Kindesunterhalt under the BGB

The underlying obligation comes from § 1601 BGB: relatives in a direct line, which includes parents and children, owe each other maintenance. For a minor child living primarily with one parent, that parent generally satisfies their obligation through direct care (Naturalunterhalt), housing, food, day-to-day provision, while the other parent typically owes cash maintenance (Barunterhalt).

Two statutory concepts anchor the amount:

• Mindestunterhalt (§ 1612a BGB): the legal minimum maintenance for a minor child, expressed as a percentage of the tax-free subsistence minimum and rising by age bracket. The Bundesministerium der Justiz und für Verbraucherschutz updates the underlying subsistence-minimum figure by regulation roughly every two years, and the calculated minimum rounds up to the nearest full euro.
• Kindergeld-Anrechnung (§ 1612b BGB): child benefit is credited against the child's maintenance need. If the paying parent's obligation is otherwise met through childcare rather than cash, half the Kindergeld offsets the cash-paying parent's amount, in other cases the full Kindergeld is credited.

The Düsseldorfer Tabelle

Because the BGB itself doesn't specify exact euro figures, German family courts rely on the Düsseldorfer Tabelle, published by the Oberlandesgericht Düsseldorf since 1979 and developed in coordination with all of Germany's other higher regional courts and the maintenance commission of the Deutscher Familiengerichtstag. It's important to understand what it is and isn't:

• It is not a statute. No law requires a court to follow it. It's described by the issuing court itself as a set of Richtwerte (reference values).
• It is, in practice, the near-universal standard. Every Oberlandesgericht in Germany applies it, and it's updated periodically (most recently effective January 1, 2026) to track changes in the statutory subsistence minimum and cost of living.

How the table works

The Düsseldorfer Tabelle cross-references two variables:

1. The paying parent's net monthly income, grouped into income brackets.
2. The child's age, grouped into brackets that widen as the statutory Mindestunterhalt itself increases with age under § 1612a BGB.

Reading the paying parent's income bracket against the child's age bracket gives the Bedarfssatz (gross maintenance need). The table then separately shows the Zahlbetrag, the amount actually paid, after the Kindergeld credit under § 1612b BGB is subtracted. The lowest income bracket on the table is built around the statutory Mindestunterhalt floor, so a low-income paying parent's obligation doesn't fall below what § 1612a BGB guarantees.

Because the specific euro amounts in each bracket change with every update to the table, this guide deliberately doesn't reproduce them here, the only reliable source for current figures is the Oberlandesgericht Düsseldorf's own Düsseldorfer Tabelle page, which publishes the current table and accompanying guidelines (Leitlinien) as official PDFs.

Applying, varying, and enforcing support

Getting a title

An informal agreement between parents can work day to day, but to be enforceable, Kindesunterhalt needs a title: a family court order, a notarized deed (notarielle Urkunde), or a maintenance title certified through the local Jugendamt (Jugendamtsurkunde), often arranged through the Jugendamt's free Beistandschaft service. A parent can request Beistandschaft to have the Jugendamt calculate the claim, request the other parent's income disclosure, and help establish a title without hiring a private attorney.

Claiming retroactively

Under § 1613 BGB, retroactive maintenance is generally limited to the point the paying parent was formally asked for financial disclosure, put in default, or a claim became legally pending, not earlier, outside narrow exceptions for special needs or situations genuinely outside the requesting parent's control. This makes raising a claim formally, rather than relying on an informal arrangement, worth doing promptly.

Changing the amount

Kindesunterhalt isn't fixed permanently. It changes automatically as the child moves into a new age bracket on the Düsseldorfer Tabelle, and either parent can request a reassessment when there's a material change in the paying parent's income or the child's needs.

Enforcement

Once a title exists, Kindesunterhalt is enforced like any other civil debt, most commonly through Lohnpfändung (wage garnishment) served directly on the paying parent's employer. If the paying parent can't be reached or can't pay, the Unterhaltsvorschusskasse (advance maintenance payment fund, administered by local youth welfare offices) can pay a guaranteed minimum amount directly to the child, with the state government then pursuing the non-paying parent for reimbursement.

Practical considerations

Because the Zahlbetrag depends on the paying parent's current net income and shifts automatically at each age-bracket threshold, keeping accurate, current, and shared records, income changes, the child's age milestones, and actual payments made, reduces the kind of disagreement that ends up back in front of a Jugendamt caseworker or a Familiengericht. For the custody and contact rules that often intersect with support disputes, see the Germany custody guide.

Official German resources

• BGB § 1601, Unterhaltsverpflichtete (gesetze-im-internet.de)
• BGB § 1612a, Mindestunterhalt minderjähriger Kinder (gesetze-im-internet.de)
• BGB § 1612b, Kindergeld als Bedarfsdeckung (gesetze-im-internet.de)
• BGB § 1613, Unterhalt für die Vergangenheit (gesetze-im-internet.de)
• Oberlandesgericht Düsseldorf: Düsseldorfer Tabelle

Related OnePage resources

• Child support calculator and guideline finder
• What is a parenting plan
• Custody schedule generator

Related Germany pages

• Germany hub
• Germany custody guide