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BAföG - which assets are taken into account

December 16, 2011 | 40,00 EUR | answered by Steffan Schwerin

Hello,

I am 36 years old, a single mother of 2 children aged 5 and 8 years old.

I have completed a three and a half year vocational training as a dental technician with 21 months of work experience afterwards. I then worked in a non-vocational job for about 4 years. This was followed by a total of 6 years of parental leave (consecutively) for my two children, during which I also completed training to become a childminder.

During the parental leave until now, I have been working full-time as a childminder. I have always been able to support myself financially (except for very short periods of temporary unemployment of up to 3 months) without any government assistance.

In November, I learned about the possibility of gaining access to university studies through a trial study program at the Fernuni Hagen without a high school diploma.

Now, I would like to study B.A. Educational Sciences and I have a question about whether in my case, at my age, I could still be eligible for independent student financial aid.

On the Fernuni Hagen website regarding the trial study program, I found the following remark:

http://www.fernuni-hagen.de/studium/studienangebot/bachelorstudiengaenge/zugangspruefung/berufl_qualibafaqsindex.shtml

"Can I apply for Bafög benefits during the trial study?

Full-time students in the trial study are entitled to benefits under Bafög."

Now my questions:

1. Do I still qualify for student financial aid at my age under these conditions?

2. I have agreed with my divorced husband on spousal support in the form of a lump sum payment in 4 annual installments. The last installment is due in January 2012. I assume that this amount will be considered as income for the year 2012 and not as assets (the study is supposed to start in April 2012). Is this correct?

3. There is a balance of more than 5,200 euros in my savings account. However, the child support payments for me and my children from their father were transferred monthly to this savings account. Will this savings be considered as assets for student financial aid? Could I transfer the funds to the children's savings accounts retroactively, and would this reduce the assets to be considered for student financial aid? Should the child support payments be declared as income?

4. Will the assets on my children's savings accounts be taken into account? Would it be better if the father directly transferred the child support payments to the children's savings accounts in the future?

5. I own a car that is registered to me and was purchased by me. We live in a rural area. The distance to the kindergarten and school is approximately 1.3 km and there is a steep hill on the way. The children are not allowed to leave the kindergarten alone and must be picked up

Steffan Schwerin

Dear questioner,

I will answer the questions you have raised, taking into account the circumstances described and your efforts, as follows:

1. Do I still qualify for Bafög at my age under these conditions?

You can apply for Bafög for full-time studies, but not for a trial course.

2. I have agreed with my divorced husband on spousal support in the form of a lump sum payment in 4 annual installments. The final installment is due in January 2012. I assume that this amount will be considered as income for 2012 (as the study is set to begin in April 2012) and not as an asset. Is that correct?

Yes.

3. There is a balance of more than 5,200 euros in my savings account. However, maintenance payments for me and my children from their father were transferred monthly to this savings account. Will this amount be taken into account for Bafög? Could I transfer the assets to the children's savings accounts retroactively and would this reduce the assets to be considered for Bafög? Should the maintenance payments for the children be declared as income?

Assets will be taken into account. However, you and the children also have a corresponding allowance.

4. Will the assets on my children's savings accounts be taken into account? Perhaps it would be better if the father transfers maintenance payments directly to the children's savings accounts in the future?

No, that is earmarked for the children.

5. I own a car that is registered to me and was purchased by me. We live in a rural area. The distance to kindergarten and school is about 1.3 km and there is a steep hill on the way. The children are not allowed to leave the kindergarten alone and must be picked up. Therefore, I drive the children to school and kindergarten by car. There is no public transportation available here. I also use the car for evening professional development courses. If I were to travel these routes by public transportation (questionable if even possible), the time in which I would need to hire a babysitter in the evenings would increase significantly. Can we assume here that the vehicle (valued at 4,800 euros according to the purchase agreement of October 2010) will not be considered as an asset due to the hardship provision?

No, the vehicle will not be assessed here.

6. I have a pension insurance policy (not a Riester pension, due to being self-employed) with surplus participation. Will the capital from this insurance be taken into account for Bafög?

If you are currently receiving benefits or the surplus is being paid out to you, this is considered income.

7. Let's say I were to take out a Riester pension now and pay in the maximum amount this year and at the beginning of next year. Would this be taken into account for Bafög? Perhaps the pension insurance could be converted into a Riester pension (considering only the Bafög application - for further details, I would need to discuss with the insurance company)?

That can be done.

8. I live in a single-family house owned by my parents. However, they do not live here. Is there a way to claim the rent or parts of it in the Bafög application? How would it be if I took over parts of the mortgage payment for the house instead of rent? What if a usufruct right is granted and I pay my parents a sum for it?

If you pay rent, this can be claimed. Otherwise, only the ancillary costs count.

9. Since I am self-employed, I have just submitted the tax return for 2010 and have not received a decision yet. For 2011, I have paid almost no income tax and of course have not yet submitted the tax return. Can I estimate the expected costs and deduct them from the credit balance?

You would then have to have a provisional profit and loss statement drawn up.

Finally, I would like to point out that this platform cannot replace a detailed and personal legal consultation. The aim is solely to provide an initial rough assessment of your legal issue based on the information you have provided from a lawyer. The legal information I provide is based solely on the facts you have provided. Adding or omitting relevant information in your description of the facts can lead to a completely different legal assessment.

I hope I have given you an initial overview and that my explanations help you further. You are welcome to contact me through the follow-up option on this platform.

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Best regards,

Steffan Schwerin
Lawyer

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