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A large number of pensioners live below the poverty line. For many of them, moving into a nursing home is not affordable. However, if their children earn enough, they can be required to pay.
Frankfurt – Anyone who has worked all their working life hopes to be financially secure in retirement. But this advantage is certainly not available to every pensioner. Quite the opposite: around 10 million pensioners in this country receive less than 1,250 euros in pension per month – which means they fall below the poverty line specified by the Federal Statistical Office.
Care costs: Salary limits determine who is eligible for parental support
Pensioners will then feel this not only in their everyday lives, but also in old age when they potentially move into a nursing home. If nursing home costs cannot be offset by savings and Interest The social welfare office can help if the costs are not covered. However, there is also the option of having well-earning children contribute to the care costs through what is known as parental maintenance. However, there are strict requirements for this.
For elderly people, moving to a nursing home is often not only a big step towards different living conditions, but also involves high costs for those involved. The national average (as of 1 July) for the personal contribution in the first year of stay in a German nursing home is, according to the information portal pflege.de According to the German Health Insurance Act (GHG), the monthly amount is 2,871 euros. The prerequisite for this is that the insured person has a recognized care level of 2 or higher.
Care recipient in a wheelchair receives help © IMAGO / ingimage
If the children of pensioners in need of care with a low pension earn enough, they can be asked to contribute to the financing of their parents’ care costs by social welfare providers as part of parental maintenance. This does not apply to grandchildren and all other degrees of kinship. Statutory long-term care insurance also only covers a certain part of the resulting care costs, depending on the degree of care required, as the Federal Ministry of Health Who is eligible to help their parents financially through child support is determined based on specific income limits.
In order for a child of a person in need of care to be able to contribute to the costs of their care, an annual gross income of more than 100,000 euros or a monthly net income of more than 5,000 euros is required. The first income limit of over 100,000 euros gross was already passed on December 12, 2019 as the so-called Relatives Relief Act.
Annual gross income and monthly net income serve as limits for parental support
However, only the income of the respective child is decisive for the assessment of the gross income limit. Anyone who together with their spouse has a gross annual income of more than 100,000 euros cannot be required to pay costs for parents in need of care, as the Consumer Center informed on their website.
The starting point for the fact that a second limit was also set as a result of the annual gross income limit was a legal case before the Munich Higher Regional Court. In the legal dispute in question, a mentally ill woman received benefits from the social welfare agency of more than 60,000 euros per year. The social welfare agency tried to sue for parental support from the son of the woman in need of care – unsuccessfully, as the Munich Higher Regional Court ruled in a ruling dated March 6, 2024 (Az.: 2 UF 1201/23 e) explained.
The reason given was that the Relatives Relief Act stipulated that a gross annual income of more than 100,000 euros was a prerequisite for parental support. The court considered it appropriate to reduce this requirement to an average monthly net income that could be achieved with this gross income. Depending on family status and type of employment, this would be between 5,000 and 5,500 euros.
How the social welfare office checks the obligation to pay parental support and calculates amounts
The social welfare office will only check a maintenance obligation if, according to the consumer advice center, there is a suspicion or indication. If the social welfare office contacts the child of the person in need of care with such a suspicion, income must be reported to the office. The parents’ maintenance claim against their children is calculated according to civil law regulations.
If at least one child earns more than 100,000 euros, the amount of maintenance is calculated according to the relevant guidelines, for example on the basis of the so-called Düsseldorf Table, which is available on the website of the Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf Although it does not give rise to a direct legal claim, it can be used as a basis for calculating what higher-earning children are obliged to pay to their parents in need of care who receive a low pension. (fh)
