Child Support & Spousal Maintenance Lawyer in Nuremberg

Maintenance after separation and divorce

Maintenance (Unterhalt) is one of the most common – and most complex – issues after a separation. Who has to pay how much? Which income counts? How much must the paying parent be left with? I calculate your claims, enforce them or defend you against unjustified demands.

Child support

If a minor child lives with one parent, that parent usually fulfils the maintenance obligation through care, while the other parent pays cash support. The amount is generally based on the Düsseldorf Table, updated annually and applied in Bavaria via the Southern German Guidelines:

• Income bracket: based on the adjusted net income of the paying parent
• Age group: 0–5, 6–11, 12–17 and 18+
• Child benefit (Kindergeld): half is credited for minor children, the full amount for adult children
• Additional needs such as nursery fees or orthodontic treatment may be owed on top and are shared by both parents in proportion to their incomes

Support for adult children generally continues until the completion of their first vocational training or degree; both parents are then liable in proportion to their incomes. If both parents care for the child roughly equally (shared care model), both have to pay proportionally.

Spousal maintenance

• Separation maintenance (Trennungsunterhalt) is generally owed to the financially weaker spouse until the divorce becomes final.
• Post-divorce maintenance requires a statutory reason, such as caring for young children, illness, age or lack of employment opportunities. It can be limited in time or amount.
• Under the Southern German Guidelines applied in Bavaria, the recipient generally receives 45% of the difference in adjusted incomes (employment bonus of one tenth).

If the other parent does not pay

Maintenance claims can be secured by a youth welfare office certificate (Jugendamtsurkunde) or a court order and enforced, for example by wage garnishment. For children, the youth welfare office may pay advance maintenance (Unterhaltsvorschuss) under certain conditions.

Maintenance with an international element

If one parent lives abroad, international rules determine which court has jurisdiction and which law applies. Within the EU, maintenance decisions can be enforced relatively easily; outside the EU, international conventions often help.

Maintenance lawyer in Nuremberg, Fürth, Erlangen and Middle Franconia

Our office is centrally located at Gleißbühlstraße 7, 90402 Nuremberg (Nürnberg), about a five-minute walk from Nuremberg Central Station. We represent clients from Nuremberg and the entire metropolitan region – including Fürth, Erlangen, Schwabach, Zirndorf, Stein, Lauf an der Pegnitz, Hersbruck, Feucht, Roth and Neumarkt – before the local courts, in particular the Nuremberg Local Court (Amtsgericht), the Nuremberg-Fürth Regional Court (Landgericht) and the Nuremberg Higher Regional Court (Oberlandesgericht).