Parents Support? Only with Income of 5000 EUR Nett
When aging parents struggle to live off their pensions and savings, well-off children can step in to help with their maintenance. However, this is subject to certain rules.
Parents naturally take care of their children. But when the situation reverses, complications can arise. Should adult children provide financial support for their retired parents? Yes, if a senior citizen requires nursing home care but can't afford it with their pension and savings, they may receive assistance from the social welfare office. However, if the adult children of the nursing home resident have high incomes, they could be involved in the funding through parental maintenance, known as parental allowance.
To receive this, one must have an annual gross income of over 100,000 euros or a monthly net income of more than 5,000 euros, as stated by the Working Group Family Law of the German Lawyers' Association.
What happened in the court case?
In this particular case, a mentally ill woman received social benefits exceeding 60,000 euros annually. The welfare office tried unsuccessfully to claim parental maintenance from her son. The reason? The law requires an annual gross income of over 100,000 euros for parental maintenance. The court ruled that this requirement could be replaced with an average monthly net income earned with this gross income, which may range from 5,000 to 5,500 euros depending on the individual's marital status and employment type.
The son, after deducting mandatory deductions and additional pension contributions, had a monthly income of less than 4,475 euros during the years cited by the welfare office. Thus, he was not liable for parental maintenance. It's worth noting that the maintenance obligation isn't simply divided equally among siblings. The social welfare office first determines the maintenance amount a child would have to pay according to their income and assets. If there are multiple children with incomes over 100,000 euros per year, each is responsible in proportion.
Read also:
- In this situation, the tax office may ask the high-income adult child to provide information about their tax return, as potential parental maintenance payments could impact their tax liability.
- To manage the costs associated with long-term care insurance, some families consider consulting an advisor who specializes in insurances and taxes. They can help optimize financial strategies to ensure both the elderly parents' needs are met and the adult children's tax burdens are minimized.
- Bear in mind that parental maintenance payments could also influence the costs for care, as some long-term care facilities may adjust their fees based on a resident's available resources, including parental maintenance income.
