Maintenance law
January 4, 2010 | 30,00 EUR | answered by Steffan Schwerin
I have been divorced for 8 years and now my younger son wants to drop out of his apprenticeship.
My 15-year-old son started an apprenticeship as a carpenter in September 09 - supposedly of his own accord and out of interest. After 3 months (he will turn 16 on Monday), he tells me that he wants to obtain his secondary school certificate.
I had asked him multiple times if this apprenticeship was what he wanted and if he wanted to work as a carpenter. He affirmed this.
Upon further questioning, it turns out that he apparently did not choose this apprenticeship himself (like his brother before him), but was "suggested" by his mother, and now apparently wants to go back to secondary school in order to work in retail afterwards. He did not achieve a 9+1 solution due to poor academic performance.
- Do I have to agree to this apprenticeship dropout?
- Do I have to pay maintenance for the "waiting period" until he starts secondary school or
- Can I demand that my son drops out of the apprenticeship now and starts working until the beginning of secondary school? I would aim for a job in a company with a similar range of products to test how serious he is this time about this interest.
- Would maintenance still be due if he drops out of secondary school further education?
- How many "apprenticeship/school dropouts" do I actually have to finance with maintenance payments?
Thank you!
T. Pfitzke
Dear questioner,
I will answer the questions you have asked considering the facts presented and your commitment as follows:
As long as the child is not of legal age, you must pay child support, whether the child drops out of school or not.
Only once the child reaches legal age, you are required to pay child support for their education.
If your son drops out at that point, you are no longer obligated to pay child support.
Adult children have a right to child support as long as they are still in school or vocational training. This includes not only the time spent in school but also generally the time spent in vocational training. Therefore, even an apprentice is entitled to child support, but they must deduct their training allowance.
In general, a child is only entitled to financial support for one education. Therefore, the child cannot claim support for another education after successfully completing the first one.
An adult child no longer has a right to in-kind support (care), only financial support (money). Both parents are financially responsible for adult children, even the parent with whom the child lives.
Both parents are financially responsible for an adult child. Therefore, once the child reaches legal age, both parents are generally required to pay child support in cash. This also applies to the parent with whom the child lives. This parent cannot argue that they are providing in-kind support, but the in-kind support can be offset against the cash support.
Since both parents are required to pay cash support, the question arises of how the child's entitlement to support should be divided between both parents. It is not the case that each parent owes half, except if both parents earn the same amount. Instead, each parent is liable proportionally based on their income relevant to support, minus the self-support limit.
Adult students, trainees, and apprentices who still live with a parent receive the amount specified in the fourth age group until they finish their education. The child's needs are usually determined based on the combined income of both parents if both parents are financially able.
The appropriate support for an adult child with their own household is usually €640 per month. This includes accommodation and heating costs of up to €270 but does not include health and nursing insurance contributions. This amount can be adjusted for increased needs or taking into account the parents' living standards.
The child's income, including student loans and grants (minus education-related expenses), is taken into account in determining support needs. If the child has income from an unreasonable job, § 1577 paragraph 2 of the Civil Code applies accordingly.
The proportional cash support obligation of both parents is determined according to § 1606 paragraph 3 sentence 1 of the Civil Code, but does not exceed the support amount determined solely based on their income. Before calculating the liability share according to § 1606 paragraph 3 sentence 1 of the Civil Code, the net income of each parent must be determined. In addition, a basic amount equal to the reasonable self-support (€1,100) is deducted from the remaining amount.
Child benefit reduces the child's cash support needs according to § 1612 b of the Civil Code.
Finally, I would like to remind you that this platform cannot replace comprehensive and personalized legal advice. The aim is solely to provide an initial rough assessment of your legal issue based on the information you have provided to a lawyer. The legal advice I provide is based solely on the information you have provided about the situation. Adding or omitting relevant information in your description of the situation may lead to a completely different legal assessment.
I hope I have given you an initial overview and that my explanations have been helpful. Please feel free to contact me through the follow-up option on this platform.
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Best regards,
Steffan Schwerin
Lawyer
Law Office Steffan Schwerin
Golmsdorfer Straße 11
07749 Jena
Tel.: 03641 801257
Fax: 032121128582
Email: raschwerin@raschwerin.de
Website: www.raschwerin.de
