Apply for advance maintenance payments for children of single parents

Are you a single parent and receive no or only partial maintenance from the other parent? Then you can apply for an advance on maintenance payments under certain conditions.

You will receive advance maintenance payments for your child if you are raising it in your household without another parent against whom the child is entitled to maintenance. However, this maintenance is not paid by the other parent or the person obliged to pay maintenance, or is paid incompletely or irregularly.

Children with a deceased parent may also be entitled to an advance on maintenance payments if no or insufficient orphan's benefits are paid.

The child's center of life must clearly be in your household. This means that you are not entitled to an advance on maintenance payments if you use the alternating model. You must not have married a new partner.

If the eligibility requirements are met, the maintenance advance will be paid to you until your child reaches the age of majority.

The amount of the maintenance advance is calculated from the amount of the respective minimum maintenance rates less child benefit and, if applicable, less any maintenance payments or orphan's benefits already received.

The following amounts currently apply (as of 2025)

• for children up to 5 years EUR 227.00 per month
• for children from 6 to 11 years EUR 299.00 per month
• for children from 12 to 17 years EUR 394.00 per month

The maintenance advance is always paid at the beginning of a calendar month and can be applied for retroactively for 1 month.

Municipal youth welfare offices

Maintenance advance offices in the youth welfare offices of the cities and districts

• Application form
• additionally required depending on the individual case:
  • the birth certificate of the child concerned
  • the identity card of the single parent
  • confirmation of registration or information from the register of residents
  • for foreign children or parents:
    • identity card
    • valid proof of residence permit
  • Maintenance title:
    • current maintenance determination, maintenance certificate, judgment, order
  • in the event of separation of a marriage:
    • Divorce decree, letter from the lawyer about the date of separation, if applicable
  • for unmarried couples:
    • Acknowledgment or establishment of paternity
  • Proof of income:
    • Child benefit
    • Half-orphan's pension, if applicable
    • Maintenance payments, if applicable
  • If applicable, approval or cessation notices regarding benefits under the Maintenance Advance Act from other maintenance advance funds
  • From the age of 12, if you are currently receiving SGB II benefits, a complete, up-to-date notification from the job center
  • From the age of 15, additionally the school certificate or, from the end of school attendance, proof of income.

Many Hessian maintenance advance offices offer an online application service, e.g. Unterhaltsvorschuss Online.
You can obtain the paper application forms from the relevant youth welfare office.

The following requirements must be met for the approval of advance maintenance payments:

• Your child is under 12 years old
• Your child is 12 to 17 years old and the following conditions are met:
  • Your child does not receive a citizen's allowance.
  • The maintenance advance can prevent your child from needing assistance.
  • You have a gross monthly income of at least EUR 600 and may receive supplementary citizen's allowance.
  • Child maintenance is not paid or is only paid in part or no or insufficient orphan's benefits are paid.
  • Your child is resident or habitually resident in Germany.
  • You may also be entitled if you live abroad with your child but are fully liable for income tax in Germany.
  • You are a single parent. You are also considered a single parent if you are widowed.
  • You and the child must live in the same household.
  • Foreign children are only eligible if they have certain residence permits.

• Contradiction

Advance maintenance payments can be granted retroactively for 1 month if the requirements were already met at that time.

There are no costs.

The following information is available:

• Children between the ages of 12 and 17 are only entitled to an advance on maintenance payments if
  • the child is not dependent on SGB II benefits,
  • the child would not be dependent on SGB II benefits with the advance maintenance payment or
  • if the single parent in receipt of citizen's allowance earns a gross income of at least EUR 600.
• The other parent must repay the maintenance advance to the maintenance advance office. If the person obliged to pay maintenance does not pay, the maintenance advance office can sue for repayment and enforce it.