💶 Advance maintenance payment (UVG)

If the other parent pays no maintenance or too little, the Jugendamt pays an advance – until your child's 18th birthday.

Advance maintenance payment (Unterhaltsvorschuss) UVG Jugendamt Minimum maintenance Beistandschaft § 1 UVG § 2 UVG § 1612a BGB

In brief

If the other parent pays no maintenance for your child, or does not pay regularly, the Jugendamt can pay advance maintenance on application. The child must live with you, you must be unmarried, widowed or divorced or live permanently separated, and the other parent must not regularly pay the minimum maintenance (§ 1 Abs. 1 UVG). Since the 2017 reform there is no fixed maximum duration any more; the entitlement in principle lasts until the 18th birthday.

Legally it is an advance: the state steps into your child's maintenance claim against the other parent to the extent of the benefit paid and tries to recover the money from them. This relieves you of the enforcement risk yourself.

Step by step

Submit the applicationSubmit the written application to the Jugendamt in your place of residence – forms are available online or on site.
Submit documentsProvide the birth certificate, proof of custody and details about the other parent (name, address, employer if applicable).
For children aged 12 and overShow that you have at least 600 euros of your own income per month or that your child does not receive SGB II benefits – otherwise there is no entitlement from this age.
CooperateProvide the information needed to establish paternity or to trace the whereabouts of the other parent – if you refuse, the entitlement lapses (§ 1 Abs. 3 UVG).
Report changes immediatelyTell the Jugendamt without delay if you move in with the other parent, get married or the other parent does pay after all.

Deadlines

until 18th birthday

Maximum age for receiving advance maintenance payment since the 2017 reform (previously 12 years)§ 1 Abs. 1, 1a UVG

12th birthday

From this age additional requirements apply: own minimum income of €600 or the child does not receive SGB II benefits§ 1 Abs. 1a UVG

Watch out – common mistakes

The entitlement lapses completely if you live with the other parent or refuse the necessary cooperation (information, establishing paternity) (§ 1 Abs. 3 UVG).
For months in which the other parent has already paid the maintenance in full, there is no additional entitlement (§ 1 Abs. 4 UVG) – advance maintenance payment does not allow double receipt.
From the child's 12th birthday many parents check the 600-euro income limit too late – without sufficient own income and with the child simultaneously receiving SGB II, the entitlement can lapse because the advance would otherwise only be offset against the SGB II need.
With genuine shared parenting, the assignment to a main carer parent is often disputed; according to case law the entitlement is regularly excluded or only possible to a limited extent there – have this checked in the individual case.

In depth · legal basis, figures and practice – for advisers and professionals

Calculation of the amount (§ 2 UVG)

The monthly maintenance benefit is based on the statutory minimum maintenance under § 1612a Abs. 1 BGB, graded by three age groups of the child (0–5, 6–11, 12–17 years). From this minimum maintenance the child benefit payable for a first child is deducted in full if you or a third party (other than the other parent) are entitled to child benefit. The exact payment amounts per age group for 2026 change annually with the Minimum Maintenance Ordinance and the level of child benefit and were not checked in this research against a single official primary source (announcement of the BMFSFJ) – rely on your Jugendamt for the exact euro amount, see also Sources and Methodology.

Cessio legis: recourse by the Jugendamt

With the payment, your child's civil-law maintenance claim against the other parent passes by operation of law to the state (Land) or municipality (§ 7 UVG). The Jugendamt asserts the recourse claim against the other parent – your information on their whereabouts and income is important for this, even though you do not have to enforce it yourself.

Offsetting the child's income

The child's own income reduces the benefit: orphan's benefits in full, own earned income of older children who no longer attend a general education school by half after deduction of a flat-rate allowance (for trainees an additional 100 euros).

Procedure and payment

The application is decided in writing, the benefit is paid monthly in advance (§ 9 UVG); amounts under 5 euros are not paid. Submit the application as soon as possible once the maintenance failure becomes known – the Jugendamt will advise you bindingly in the individual case on the start and extent of any retroactive effect for earlier months.

Who is responsible

Jugendamt / municipal advance maintenance payment office

Quick questions

Worum geht es bei „Advance maintenance payment (UVG)“?

If the other parent pays no maintenance or too little, the Jugendamt pays an advance – until your child's 18th birthday.

Which deadlines and figures matter?

until 18th birthday: Maximum age for receiving advance maintenance payment since the 2017 reform (previously 12 years) (§ 1 Abs. 1, 1a UVG)
12th birthday: From this age additional requirements apply: own minimum income of €600 or the child does not receive SGB II benefits (§ 1 Abs. 1a UVG)

What should I do first?

Submit the application: Submit the written application to the Jugendamt in your place of residence – forms are available online or on site.
Submit documents: Provide the birth certificate, proof of custody and details about the other parent (name, address, employer if applicable).
For children aged 12 and over: Show that you have at least 600 euros of your own income per month or that your child does not receive SGB II benefits – otherwise there is no entitlement from this age.

What do I need to watch out for?

The entitlement lapses completely if you live with the other parent or refuse the necessary cooperation (information, establishing paternity) (§ 1 Abs. 3 UVG).
For months in which the other parent has already paid the maintenance in full, there is no additional entitlement (§ 1 Abs. 4 UVG) – advance maintenance payment does not allow double receipt.
From the child's 12th birthday many parents check the 600-euro income limit too late – without sufficient own income and with the child simultaneously receiving SGB II, the entitlement can lapse because the advance would otherwise only be offset against the SGB II need.

Evidence

§§ 1, 2, 7, 9 UVG (gesetze-im-internet.de, retrieved September 2026)
§ 1612a BGB (gesetze-im-internet.de)

As of

As of September 2026. · Sources and method

A question about your situation that this page does not answer? Write to us or use the contact form – we will tell you which office is responsible and what to bring. Free of charge, without individual legal advice.