Parental allowance entitlement - what are the requirements?

Requirements for parental benefit entitlement

All parents in Germany, who mostly look after their child in the first 14 months of life, can receive basic parental allowance or from the birth of the child about that apply for ElterngeldPlus. It is irrelevant whether the parents are employed, self-employed or civil servants. Parents who do not have a current earned income, e.g. housewives, unemployed, students and trainees, can also apply for parental allowance. However, some requirements must be met and in some cases the state makes exceptions.

What are the basic requirements??

According to §1 paragraph 1 of the Federal Parental Allowance and Parental Leave Act (BEEG), the following requirements must be met in order to be entitled to parental benefit:

The place of residence or habitual residence * (* see parental allowance abroad) is in Germany.
The child is cared for independently in its own household after birth.
The parental benefit recipient lives with his child in a common household.
After the birth of the child, no or no full employment (maximum 30 hours a week) is carried out.

Become all these requirements are fully met, there is a general entitlement to parental allowance. However, there are also some exceptions in which certain groups of people are entitled to parental allowance, although not all requirements are met. This particularly includes trainees and students.

Info:
In the application, both parents are formally separated from one another. This means that one parent can in principle be entitled to parental benefit, even if the other parent is not entitled to it.

Parental allowance for students and trainees

In general, the following applies: For parental allowance, the professional activity must not exceed an average weekly working time of 30 hours. However, there are special cases in which the weekly working hours may be exceeded. This includes all activities that are related to vocational education, training or further training. In these cases, the activity may exceed 30 hours a week without the entitlement to parental allowance expiring. This includes, in particular, vocational training, studies, but also further training that is important for the further professional career, as well as in-house further training measures.

Parental allowance for adoption

Anyone who adopts a child is also entitled to parental benefit from the time the child is admitted – even if the adoption process has not yet been fully completed. As soon as the child has reached the age of 8, does not exist Eligibility for parental allowance.

No entitlement to parental benefit for foster children

Anyone who takes in a foster child is entitled to parental leave, but is not entitled to parental benefit. This is due to the fact that the responsible youth welfare office provides for the child’s necessary livelihood with monthly amounts (care allowance) according to SGB VIII.

Transfer of parental allowance to the other parent

Both the mother and the child’s father can apply for parental benefit. The parental allowance can also be transferred to the other parent. Within the EU, it is not necessary for the parents to be married to each other for the transfer. Outside the EU, parents must be married to transfer rights.

However, if one of the two is married to another partner, the child can apply for parental benefit, provided the child lives in the same household, provided the child’s financial situation deteriorates due to the child’s reduced earning capacity.

Parental allowance in a marriage-like community

Partners in a marriage-like community can apply for parental benefit if one of the partners is also a parent – that is, if it is their own child.

Same-sex partnerships

Parental allowance can also be applied for by the same-sex partner for the biological or adopted child if this partnership is documented as a registered civil partnership.

Parental allowance for caring relatives of the child

In exceptional cases, relatives up to the third degree of relationship, such as grandparents, aunts, uncles or siblings of the newborn child, can apply for parental allowance for childcare.

Exceptional cases are, for example, severe disabilities, illnesses or the death of the biological parents within the period in which the parental allowance can be drawn.

Another exception is the so-called "grandparents’ time": the grandparents are entitled to parental allowance even if they take care of their grandchildren because the parents cannot take care of them themselves. This is particularly the case if the biological parents of the child are minors and / or the child was born during school or training.

In these cases, the respective persons take the place of Parents and thus assume their rights and obligations. This also includes the right to parental allowance in the same amount that the parents would have if they cared for the child themselves.

! Top earners have no longer been entitled to parental benefit since 2011 !
Even if all the requirements are met: Parents who had taxable annual income of EUR 250,000 (single persons) or EUR 500,000 (married couples) before the birth of the child are not entitled to parental allowance.