Recourse under the Maintenance Advance Act (UVG)

Advance maintenance payments are a state benefit for underage children who live with a single parent and receive no or no regular maintenance from the other (non-family) parent. The conditions under which advance maintenance payments can be granted can be found in the article Advance maintenance payments.

When the advance maintenance payments are granted, the maintenance claim of the minor child against the parent liable for cash maintenance is transferred to the state of Saarland, represented by the maintenance advance funds of the respective districts, in the amount of the monthly payment (§ 7 UVG). Through this statutory subrogation, the maintenance advance fund also acquires the right to information under maintenance law in accordance with § 1605 of the German Civil Code (BGB) against the parent liable for cash maintenance.

After the parent liable for cash maintenance has been demonstrably informed of the authorisation of benefits and the resulting statutory subrogation, he/she is requested to provide information on his/her personal and financial circumstances in accordance with § 6 Para. 1 UVG (see under Applications/Forms: "Information on income and assets (pdf)"). ).

If the parent liable for cash maintenance does not provide any or only incomplete information about his/her personal and financial circumstances, the Maintenance Advance Fund is authorised to obtain the necessary information from third parties (employer, tax office, social benefit provider, account retrieval from the Federal Central Tax Office, etc.).

Once all the necessary information is available, the ability to pay maintenance of the parent liable for cash maintenance is examined as part of a maintenance calculation and the parent liable for cash maintenance is then requested to pay the calculated maintenance contribution. The ability to pay maintenance is determined on the basis of the current version of the maintenance guidelines of the higher regional courts and in accordance with established case law, in particular that of the Federal Court of Justice (BGH).

If the parent liable for cash maintenance does not fulfil their maintenance obligation or does not fulfil it sufficiently, the maintenance advance fund is obliged to claim the arrears as part of court maintenance proceedings or as part of civil dunning proceedings. Such proceedings are always associated with additional costs and fees (e.g. legal fees and court costs) for the parent liable for cash maintenance.

Please contact us if you have any further questions.