Children in Germany are always entitled to child support.

If the parents live together, the

question of who pays maintenance does not arise. If the parents live separately,
however, the parent with whom the child lives provides maintenance in the form of room
and board. The other parent is required to pay cash - regardless of either parent’s
income.

Single-parent families in Germany have a right to child maintenance payments for as

long as the child remains underage or in full-time education. In both cases, however, the
child must remain unmarried, as after marriage the maintenance claim is primarily
transferred over to the new spouse.

Maintenance payments in Germany are regulated by law, meaning that child support is
fixed from the outset, at a rate determined by both parents. The so-called Düsseldorf
Table (Düsseldorfer Tabelle) serves as a guideline. The amount of child maintenance to
be paid depends primarily on the salary of the maintenance debtor, as well as the age
of the child.

The Düsseldorf table serves as a yardstick and guideline for calculating maintenance,
especially child maintenance. Introduced in 1962 by the Düsseldorf Higher Regional
Court, it has been the benchmark for measuring maintenance for 50 years. The last
adjustment was published by the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court for the period
from January 1 2020.

The Düsseldorf table itself has no legal force and should rather be seen as a general
guideline that is also accepted by the courts in the case of a maintenance obligation and
maintenance calculation. It provides the maintenance debtor with information about the
extent of the maintenance.
Read the Düsseldorf table correctly
The maintenance table is initially structured according to the income and age of the
child. The higher regional courts assume the rule that the person liable for
maintenance must pay maintenance for 2 people . Either for a child and a spouse or
just 2 children.

Number of dependents
If the person liable for maintenance has to pay for more or less than 2 dependents, this
affects the classification of income. Most of the time, the child is obliged to provide
child support. As a result, he slips into the next higher income level. If there are more
than 2 dependents, the would be grouped into the next lower income level. The OLG
regularly practices this rule according to the guidelines.

Percentage used to calculate the maintenance amount

In the maintenance table there is also a percentage. The basic requirement is in the 1st
income level ( maintenance income up to 1,900 euros). This percentage is the multiplier
for the individual income levels.

Example:
If you look at income level 1, which at the same time represents € 424 100 percent of
the minimum maintenance in the 2nd age group (6-11 years), you simply have to add
this amount, for example with the percentage of the 6th level, which is given as 128
percent, multiply. In mathematical terms, the maintenance person has a payment
amount of € 424 x 128 percent = € 542.72 - shown at € 543 due to rounding. On this
basis, all maintenance amounts can be calculated.

Need Control amount

The demand control amount of the DDT should not be confused with
the deductible (own requirement), since there are basically two different calculation
parameters. In principle, the demand control amount is higher than the deductible
(except for the minimum maintenance , here it is identical to the personal
requirement and will be 1,160 euros from 2020 (1,080 to 12/31/2019) .

The requirement control amount is intended to ensure a balanced

distribution between the dependent and the dependent children. If the requirement
control amount is undercut by the table values in the Düsseldorf table, the maintenance
debtor moves to the next lower income level.
Defect calculation when the deductible is undershot
It may well happen that the person liable for maintenance has to provide maintenance
for several people from different ranks. Minors and privileged adults are to be given
priority over spouses, for example. If the maintenance debtor can only provide benefits
for the children without endangering his deductible , and in this case not for the
subordinate dependent spouse, the so-called defect case arises. The maintenance is
divided between the children according to the Düsseldorf table and the spouse gets
nothing. There is a distinction to be made between simple and absolute defects .

The absolute shortage is when the person liable for maintenance is not even able to
provide the minimum maintenance according to the DDT.

Application of the Düsseldorf table

In order to be able to determine the amount of the child who has to pay maintenance,
it is necessary to know the net work income and the age of the child in need of
maintenance. In addition, when determining the net income of the person liable for cash
maintenance, as the Düsseldorf table calls it, it should be noted that this amount does
not necessarily have to be the actual amount paid out by the maintenance debtor
from income from work . Rather, this is to be adjusted , so to speak, by a flat rate of
5% (i.e. to be reduced).

The background to this is that this flat rate is intended to cover working materials and
costs such as travel expenses, work clothes, etc. Of course, this flat rate does not apply
to the unemployed or pensioners.

A 5% lump sum for work-related expenses is also deductible in connection

with spousal maintenance. In addition, marriage-related debts may also be deductible in
individual cases in connection with spousal support.

Only the amount resulting from the deduction of deductible items is decisive for the
classification in the respective income group of the Düsseldorf table.

In connection with child maintenance, only the (adjusted) income of the maintenance
debtor is decisive for the determination of the maintenance amount, even if, for
example, the child mother with whom the child lives has a higher income than the
child's maintenance father.
Calculation example:
In the event that the person liable for maintenance should have a (adjusted) net income
of € 1,750 per month and he should only be obliged to support one child aged 13, the
amount of maintenance should be determined as follows:

Calculation:

According to the net income, the maintenance debtor is classified in income group 1,
since his income is up to € 1,900. The 13-year-old child is in the 3rd age group, i.e.
between 12 and 17 years. Since the maintenance debtor owes only one person, namely
the 13-year-old daughter, and not at least two people (typical family according to DDT) ,
the maintenance debtor is shifted up one income level, i.e. into the 2nd income level for
an income between € 1,901 and 2,300 €. Now you follow the table down in the 3rd age
group until you have reached the 3rd income group and have then determined a table
maintenance of 522 €.

This table amount of € 522 must then be reduced (adjusted) by half the child
benefit (204/2 = 102) and thus results in a monthly maintenance fee minus half the
child benefit

€ 522 - € 102 = € 420 .

This amount is the payment for child support and is due to the child. Child allowance
can be deducted in full from children of legal age , i.e. with an amount of € 204.

MAINTENANCE CALCULATOR:
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5Q_xmTAim3bm9vwnDJg
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