⚖️ Contact with your family of origin after youth welfare
In brief
As long as you were a minor, contact with your parents could be regulated by the family court – for example within the custody proceedings that led to the placement. At the age of majority, this family court jurisdiction ends: contact with your family of origin is then a private decision that you make yourself. This works both ways – nobody can force you to have contact, but nobody can make it possible for you by official order either if the family does not cooperate.
Step by step
- Know the legal positionBefore your 18th birthday, be aware that court-ordered contact arrangements expire at the age of majority.
- Make your own decisionDecide for yourself whether, when and in what form you want contact – without any duty to justify yourself to the Jugendamt or your family.
- Seek advice if neededUse educational counselling, Careleaver e. V. or trauma counselling for the emotional side of this decision.
- Secure contact details in good timeSecure any contact details you want for your family of origin in good time before youth welfare ends, as the file is no longer kept up to date afterwards.
- Pursue maintenance claims independentlyContinue to pursue any maintenance claim that may still exist against your parents legally, independently of the personal question of contact.
Deadlines
- Contact arrangements regulated by a court before the age of majority (§ 1684 BGB) end, because the right of contact there is tied to the parental status towards a minor child – this is not a value judgement on the relationship, but simply a legal consequence of coming of age.
- A wish for contact from your biological parents after you come of age creates no legal claim against you whatsoever – you neither have to respond nor explain yourself.
- Conversely, as an adult you have no enforceable claim to contact with siblings who are still minors and placed elsewhere if their persons with parental care or the Jugendamt do not agree – this can be emotionally burdensome and is a topic that advice centres know about.
In depth · legal basis, figures and practice – for advisers and professionals
Legal framework before and after the age of majority
§ 1684 BGB regulates the child's right to contact with both parents and the parents' duty to allow contact – both are tailored to the period of minority. For adult children there is no comparable statutory contact rule; any questions of contact are solely a matter for those involved.
Siblings in ongoing youth welfare
Under § 36 Abs. 2 Satz 3 SGB VIII, the sibling relationship must be taken into account in support planning for minor siblings – this can also be relevant for contact with you as a sibling who has come of age, but does not replace any entitlement of your own.
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.