A paragraph for pocket money? (neue-deutschland.de)

I recently found out that there is supposed to be a paragraph on pocket money that grandparents in particular should consider. Does it really exist and what is behind it?
Vera Z., Berlin

The lawyer Wolfgang Müller, legal expert at IDEAL Versicherung, provides information:

Money is a popular gift, whether for Christmas or a birthday – grandma and grandpa in particular like to give their grandchildren something. But: According to Section 104 of the German Civil Code (BGB), children under seven years of age are not legally competent. They can’t even buy a candy bar without their parents’ consent.

Minors are only deemed to have limited legal capacity between the ages of seven and eighteen. You can make purchases on your own, but from a legal point of view these are “pending ineffective” until the parents’ consent.

However, in order to enable children or young people to make small purchases and to give sellers legal security, the so-called pocket money paragraph (Section 110 BGB) was brought into being. This is used when the youngsters can pay for their purchases immediately with their own freely available money, such as pocket money. The consent of the parents for the use of the amount of money is the basis only for such a normal purchase. The pocket money clause states that the purchase is automatically effective as the provision of the money is deemed to be parental consent.

Nevertheless, minors cannot buy everything: Business with follow-up costs, such as subscriptions or mobile phone contracts, as well as articles that are not age-appropriate or that are prohibited by parents, are excluded. The products must not be too expensive either, but there is no legal maximum amount for pocket money.

Online purchases on account must also always be approved by the parents, as payment is made later. For saved amounts or earmarked money that they want to spend elsewhere, children also need the consent of their parents.

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