Assistance
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Why should I specify a location?
With the help of the location information, we can display the information, forms and services suitable for you and your responsible office.
Which location should I specify?
For example, your place of residence if you want to apply for a passport or the company location if you want to register a business.
If we are unable to show you a vacancy here, please check the website of your local authority.
- for a consultation: no documents required
- for a guardianship: informal written application
Guidance from the youth welfare office is free of charge.
Simply explained
Are you a mother or father caring for your child alone? Then you have the option of getting support from the youth welfare office. This person will help you to legally clarify the paternity of your child and ensure that your child receives the maintenance to which he or she is entitled. You can decide for yourself which of these tasks the advisor will take on.
The advisor can, for example, talk to the child's father to get him to acknowledge paternity and, if necessary, have paternity established in court. Or, for example, they can determine the other parent's income and calculate how much maintenance your child is entitled to. You can discuss in person which of these two tasks are specifically covered by the guardianship. You also have the option of limiting the task to individual points, for example to establishing paternity or only to maintenance issues.
What requirements must be met?
As a mother or father, you can apply for guardianship for your child if you have sole parental responsibility for the child.
You can also apply for guardianship if you have joint custody of the child (e.g. after a separation or divorce). However, the following must apply: the child must live with you or you must look after the child predominantly on your own.
The nationality of your child is irrelevant for entitlement to guardianship, but the child must live in Germany.
What do I get?
A guardianship is a special form of legal representation for children and young people. The youth welfare office can then legally represent the child in the relevant proceedings and thus relieve you. For example,
- it can ask the father to acknowledge paternity and record the necessary documents,
- arrange for paternity to be clarified in court,
- calculate your child's maintenance claim,
- regularly review the maintenance claim,
- record a deed of maintenance,
- enforce the maintenance claim in court,
- collect and monitor maintenance payments,
- determine the whereabouts and employer of the parent liable for maintenance and
- initiate enforcement measures.
What else is important?
If you are a single parent and the other parent does not pay maintenance for your child, does not pay the full amount or only pays irregularly, you can apply for an advance on maintenance payments. The maintenance advance is a compensation payment for missing maintenance payments from the other parent. It helps to secure your child's financial livelihood.
Frequently asked questions and answers
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