🔄 Shared residence model (Wechselmodell): legal basics
In brief
In the so-called (equal) shared residence model, the child lives alternately with both parents, usually in roughly equal shares of time. German law has so far had no separate statute that expressly regulates or favours the shared residence model – the statute's basic model is still the residence model, in which the child has their habitual residence with one parent and has contact with the other.
In 2017 the Federal Court of Justice held that family courts can order a shared residence model as part of a contact arrangement, even against the will of one parent, if this best serves the child's best interests in the individual case (§ 1684 BGB, standard § 1697a BGB). This presupposes a basic ability of the parents to communicate and cooperate with each other.
Step by step
- Honestly assess your ability to communicateA shared residence model only works if both parents can cooperate organisationally and personally with a reasonable degree of freedom from conflict.
- Clarify practical questionsProximity of homes, school, care times, costs and holiday arrangements should be discussed before introducing a shared residence model.
- Aim for an agreement by consentA shared residence model that both parents agree voluntarily is the most sustainable, if necessary with the support of mediation or an advice centre.
- In case of disagreement, court clarificationWithout agreement, a parent can apply to the family court for a contact arrangement, which in an individual case can also be designed as a shared residence model.
- Clarify maintenance and child benefit separatelyIn the shared residence model, separate calculation rules developed by case law apply to child maintenance and child benefit, which differ from the rule in the residence model.
Deadlines
- Courts order a shared residence model against the express and reasoned will of a highly conflicted parent only if the basic requirements for cooperation are nevertheless met – in cases of severe parental conflict, a shared residence model is usually not in the child's best interests.
- In the shared residence model, the classic claim to in-kind maintenance/cash maintenance in its pure form falls away – maintenance is calculated according to special principles developed by case law, which should be checked by a lawyer in the individual case.
- A legislative reform intended to name the shared residence model and other care models expressly in the BGB for the first time (draft bill for the modernisation of child law, as of May 2026) had not yet come into force as of this page and, according to the information available, was not expected before 2027 – until then the legal position described here, together with case law, applies.
In depth · legal basis, figures and practice – for advisers and professionals
Legal basis: residence model as the statutory standard case
The BGB still proceeds from the residence model: one habitual residence of the child with one parent, contact with the other (§ 1684 BGB). There is so far no separate statutory provision for the shared residence model.
BGH case law (XII ZB 601/15)
By decision of 1 February 2017 (XII ZB 601/15), the Federal Court of Justice held that a court contact arrangement which in effect leads to roughly equal care by both parents (equal shared residence model) is not excluded from the outset. One parent's rejection of the shared residence model does not in principle preclude a corresponding court ruling. What matters exclusively is whether the shared residence model in the specific individual case, compared with other care models, best serves the child's best interests (§ 1697a BGB). The BGH at the same time stresses that sufficient ability of the parents to communicate and cooperate is a basic requirement; where parents are considerably at odds, an ordered shared residence model is regularly not regarded as in the child's best interests.
Planned reform (modernisation of child law)
On 11 May 2026 the Federal Minister of Justice presented a draft bill for the reform of child law, which provides, among other things, for a new § 1679 Abs. 3 BGB: family courts are then expressly to be able to order care by both parents, in particular a roughly equal shared residence model, if this best serves the child's best interests – without any care model being preferred by law. The consultation of associations ran until 10 July 2026; entry into force was not expected before 2027 as of this page. Until such a law actually comes into force, the legal position described under § 1684 BGB and BGH case law continues to apply.
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