If you are entitled to maintenance, it is often difficult to enforce your claim if the person obliged to pay maintenance lives in another country. Against this background, so-called central authorities have been created worldwide in the field of international maintenance law, which provide assistance in the cross-border enforcement of maintenance claims. For Germany, the Federal Office of Justice is entrusted with the cross-border enforcement of maintenance claims in accordance with Section 4 (1) of the Foreign Maintenance Act (AUG). In the vast majority of cases handled by the Federal Office of Justice, maintenance beneficiaries are minor children. Under certain circumstances, the Federal Office of Justice can also assist in the cross-border enforcement of spousal maintenance.

Maintenance creditors living in Germany cannot send applications directly to the Federal Office of Justice. Applications must be submitted via the local court - family court - with jurisdiction over the applicant's place of residence at the seat of a higher regional court. Forms are to be used for the application, which can be obtained from the local court. The local court will provide information and advice on the possibilities of recovering maintenance abroad and which documents are required for this. After the application has been submitted in full to the local court, it will forward it to the Federal Office of Justice after an examination. The Federal Office of Justice acts as the central authority under the AUG. It corresponds with the competent authorities abroad during the entire procedure.

The following applies to child support: You can contact the assistance office of the youth welfare office and ask them to enforce the support against the parent living abroad. According to Section 1712, Paragraph 1, No. 2 of the German Civil Code (BGB), the assertion of maintenance claims is one of the tasks of the Youth Welfare Office as a legal advisor. In this context, the adviser acts as the legal representative of the child entitled to maintenance and is thus authorized to complete the application forms provided for in the context of cross-border realization of maintenance and to submit them to the preliminary review court