Service Finder
Have maintenance claims notarized
Service Description
If you are a single parent in a situation where the other parent is not paying maintenance, you can contact the child support agency. This offers you support and can have maintenance set. The maintenance advance office can advance the maintenance or, in some cases, replace it completely.
Even if the father does not want to acknowledge paternity, the child's mother can set up a guardianship office at the youth welfare office to establish paternity and then claim maintenance if paternity is successfully established.
Parents are obliged to pay maintenance to their children. If one parent does not pay maintenance, the parent with whom the child lives can set up a guardianship. The guardianship can determine the maintenance claim and possibly notarize it. The amount of maintenance depends on the income and financial circumstances.
Once the amount of maintenance to be paid has been determined, this maintenance obligation should be set out in writing. This is recorded in the form of a special document by the notary at the youth welfare office. This special document is called a maintenance order. If the maintenance is not paid, an application for enforcement can be made immediately to the competent district court on the basis of the maintenance title.
If the other parent does not pay any or sufficient maintenance, your child will be granted maintenance advance in accordance with the Maintenance Advance Act (UVG).
This is how much money you can currently receive (as of January 2025)
- up to EUR 227.00 per month for children up to 5 years of age
- for children aged 6 to 11 up to EUR 299.00 per month
- for children aged 12 to 18 up to EUR 394.00 per month. Special conditions apply here.
If the other parent would be in a position to pay maintenance for your child, this is an advance on maintenance which the maintenance advance office will immediately recover from the parent actually liable to pay maintenance.
If the other parent is not in a position to pay maintenance for your child and is therefore not obliged to do so, a default payment will be made.
For foreign nationals who are not citizens of member states of the European Economic Area or Switzerland, eligibility must be checked on a case-by-case basis.
Process flow
Guardianship:
- The guardianship can be set up in person or by submitting a written, informal application.
- In most cases, it is advisable to come in person to set up a guardianship. An appointment is made for this, which usually takes 30 to 60 minutes.
Advance maintenance payments
- The application is made using a form to which all relevant documents must be added.
Who should I contact?
Please contact the youth welfare office responsible for you.
Competent authority
Youth Welfare Office
Requirements
- The child must still be a minor.
- You are a single parent and your child lives with you.
Additionally in the case of maintenance advance:
- The other parent is unable or unwilling to pay maintenance (for example due to death, unemployment or other circumstances).
- For children after the age of 12, the additional condition applies that they are not themselves dependent on benefits under Book II of the Social Code (SGB II), or that the advance maintenance payment means that they no longer receive SGB II benefits, or that the single parent receiving SGB II benefits earns their own income of at least EUR 600.00 gross per month.
Which documents are required?
To set up a guardianship
- Identity card of the applicant
- Account details, if applicable
- Birth certificate of the child
- Furthermore, all existing documents are helpful, such as a letter from a lawyer, maintenance order
To apply for maintenance advance/replacement:
- Identity card or passport of the applicant
- Birth certificate of the child
- If available: maintenance order, court order or judgment or proof of service of the maintenance claim
- Account details for the transfer of the advance payment orof the substitute payment
- Proof of the date of separation or divorce
- Residence permit, if applicable
- Proof of child benefit
- If applicable, custody decision or custody declaration
- Acknowledgment of paternity, if applicable
- If available: (reminder) letter in connection with the assertion of child maintenance claims
- If applicable, proof of income from the child's assets (interest and similar) and the child's work (e.g. training allowance)
What are the fees?
Fee: free of charge
What deadlines do I have to pay attention to?
The application can be made even before the child is born: Either if the father has yet to be determined or it is already foreseeable that no child support will be paid.
The child must still be a minor.
Processing duration
Assistance:
- Your request will be processed after a personal meeting (30 to 60 minutes). The processing time depends on the measures required. As a rule, a processing time of at least 3 weeks can be expected.
Advance maintenance payments:
- Once a complete application has been submitted, it will be processed immediately.
Applications / forms
Opposition
Appeal
Assistance:None
Advance child support: none
Author
The text was automatically translated based on the German content.
Technically approved by
Thuringian Ministry of Social Affairs, Health, Labor and Family
Professionally released on
18.06.2025
Source: Zuständigkeitsfinder Thüringen (Linie6Plus)
No competent authority found
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