Unmarried with child

It has long been normal today for parents to lead an equal partnership without a marriage certificate. About every third child that is born has unmarried parents. If mother and father are not married, however, it is important to clarify some formal matters in good time, preferably before the birth.

Who gets unmarried children, must clarify some legal and financial issues, which are already regulated in married couples. So benefit couples without marriage vows, for example, not from all family-friendly tax savings or the benefits of inheritance law. Some things like paternity and custody must be regulated at the birth of a child more elaborately than in a marriage that took place before becoming parents. Also what concerns the not legally regulated pension equalization, unmarried couples should think about in time. Inform yourself here about the most important questions and answers.

Children of unmarried parents are fully entitled to inherit just as children of couples with a marriage certificate.

However, there are no legal regulations for unmarried parents. If one partner dies, the other goes empty-handed. Unmarried partners do not even have an officially legitimized right to a say when it comes to questions of burial or funeral services. The survivor receives no inheritance, no compulsory portion and also only limited statutory inheritance tax benefits. While spouses enjoy inheritance allowances of 500,000 euros, unmarried partners receive only an allowance of 20,000 euros.

If couples want to protect each other, they must make a will. Each partner must write his last will personally in an individual will. For unmarried partners it is not possible to draw up a joint will.

But it is possible to draw up a joint inheritance contract, which is notarized by a notary. This is legally secure and can provide greater security, because a personal will can be changed at any time without the knowledge of the partner, an inheritance contract, however, not.

When you travel abroad with your child, it can happen that the border officials at home and abroad look quite closely at the passport control and ask. Especially if the accompanying person and the child have a different last name, skin color or nationality.

For this case, unmarried parents should take for safety's sake in addition to the child passport statements of the second guardian. When traveling with minor children is recommended to carry the following documents:

• An informal declaration of consent of the other person with custody with details of the minor, if applicable, personal details of the accompanying person(s) and destination
.
• Personal details and availability of the other custodial person
.
• Copy of the other custodial person's ID data page
.

This is intended to facilitate the work of the border police with regard to the prevention of possible child abduction or unauthorized removal of the child from the sphere of influence of a legal guardian.

Couples who live together without a marriage certificate must think about a compensation of the pension gaps. While in married couples a pension equalization for the acquired pension rights during the marriage takes place, there is no comparable legal regulation for unmarried partners.

A contractual arrangement can be made via a so-called partnership agreement. In such a contract, compensation payments can be agreed in the event of a separation.

Also there is a widow's pension only in the case of marriage. To hedge can be privately a term life insurance.