Parental maintenance: When do children have to pay for their parents?

In Germany, there is a maintenance obligation towards one’s own parents. This means that children are obliged to pay maintenance to their parents as soon as they are dependent on help and cannot cover the costs from their own income and assets. This usually applies to cases in which the parents are in a nursing home and their own income and savings are not sufficient to cover the costs.

When do children have to pay for their parents?

Before the social welfare office approaches the children, parents must use their own income (pensions, rental income, etc.) and their own assets (if reasonable and realisable) to finance the costs of the home. Protected assets of 10,000 euros per person as well as grave care and burial costs that have already been handed over to a funeral parlour in trust remain untouched.

Note: If the parent in need of maintenance is married, the spouse is primarily responsible for maintenance (§ 1608 BGB).

There is only a maintenance obligation between relatives in a direct line. This means that both biological and adopted children are subject to the maintenance obligation. From an annual gross income of over 100,000 euros (per child), the children can, under certain conditions – i.e. not necessarily – contribute to the costs, for example for a care home.

How is parental maintenance calculated?

The social welfare office may enquire about the income and financial circumstances and have them disclosed if there is reason to assume that the gross annual income of the respective child is over 100,000 euros. Gross annual income includes salary, but also income from letting, leasing, securities trading, etc.

If there are several children, this only applies to children whose annual gross income exceeds 100,000 euros. The calculation is made individually. Each child pays a separate contribution and does not have to pay the share for siblings.

Basis for calculating parental maintenance is the adjusted net family income. Protected assets, deductible and other allowances are deducted from this:

1. for the adjusted net family income, all income is added together and various costs and expenses are deducted, e.g:
   • Health insurance contributions and co-payment
   • Work-related expenses (e.g. travelling expenses)
   • Loan liabilities, in particular interest and amortisation payments on a mortgage for residential property
   • Pension provision of up to 5% of the previous monthly gross income
   • Maintenance obligations
   • Reserves etc.
2.  the deductible is deducted from this adjusted net income. Since January 2020, the deductible for parental maintenance has been €2,000 for the respective child and €1,600 per month for the child’s spouse. The family deductible is therefore €3,600. Child maintenance according to the “Düsseldorf table” is added to this.
3. children must pay a maximum of half of this adjusted net income, reduced by the deductible, in parental maintenance.
   Note: Income from spouses (so-called children-in-law) is only included in the calculation if the income of the respective child exceeds the annual limit of 100,000 euros.

What about the child’s assets?

Children are not only liable to pay maintenance from their income, but also from their assets. However, the child’s individual protected assets remain unaffected. These include, for example, owner-occupied property, so-called retirement savings (5% of gross monthly income can be saved as retirement savings over the entire period of employment), reserves for repairs and replacement investments, etc.

Note: A (partial) retransfer can be ordered for gifts of assets to children made less than 10 years ago.