Ruling: Do not apply for child benefit via a lawyer's mailbox
According to a ruling by the Hessian Tax Court, it is not permissible to send a child benefit application to the family benefits office via a lawyer's electronic mailbox. As the court announced in a ruling published on Monday, a lawyer who had submitted the child benefit applications for his two children with a so-called qualified electronic signature via his lawyer's mailbox to the family benefits office had filed a complaint in the legal dispute (case no. 9 K 39/23).
The dispute concerned whether the required handwritten signature could be replaced by the electronic signature from the lawyer's mailbox. The court dismissed the claim.
According to the court, a written application requires a document that is signed by hand, whereby transmission to the family benefits office by fax or computer fax is sufficient. The lawyer's wish to be able to submit the child benefit application electronically via the lawyer's mailbox would create a special type of application and thus give a professional group - in this case the legal profession - an advantage in private matters.
According to the information provided, an appeal against the ruling is already pending at the Federal Fiscal Court (III R 15/23).
In light of this ruling, individuals should directly submit their child benefit applications to the family benefits office, as electronic signatures from a lawyer's mailbox are not considered valid replacements for handwritten signatures. Furthermore, social affairs judges may need to consider the potential implications of such rulings on broader questions related to Family Court judgments.
Source: www.dpa.com
