What is a Beistandschaft?

You as a mother or father alone care for your child? Then you have the option of getting a guardian from the youth welfare office. This person helps you to legally clarify the paternity of your child and ensures that your child gets the maintenance to which he is entitled. You can decide for yourself which of these tasks the advisor will take on.

What does the legal adviser take care of?

The counselor can, for example, talk to the father of the child to persuade him to acknowledge paternity, and if necessary have the paternity determined by the court. Or he can, for example, determine the income of the other parent and calculate how much child support your child is entitled to. You can discuss personally which of these two tasks will be taken over in concrete terms within the framework of the guardianship. You also have the option of limiting the task to individual points, for example, to the determination of paternity or only to maintenance issues.

What does a guardianship mean for my rights?

The guardian represents your child and can act on his or her behalf - even in court. But do not worry: This does not limit your parental care. You retain the full right to represent your child. To avoid contradictory declarations in court proceedings, there is one exception: in proceedings about paternity establishment or child support, what the guardian declares takes precedence.

You can find more information in this brochure from the BMFSFJ.

Where can I apply for the guardianship?

You can apply for a guardianship at your local youth welfare office. You can find here the youth welfare office that is responsible for you.

Who can work as a guardian?

The task is performed by an employee of the Youth Welfare Office who is very knowledgeable in this area.

Who is entitled to counsel?

As a mother or father, you can apply for a guardianship for your child

• if you have sole parental care of the child or
.
• if the child lives with you or if you care for him or her predominantly alone.

In these cases, you are also entitled to assistance if you have joint custody after a separation and divorce.

The nationality of your child does not play a role for the right to assistance, however, he must live in Germany.

What documents do I need to submit?

To get a bystander, a written application to the youth welfare office in your place of residence is sufficient. Once this is available, the Youth Welfare Office is your child's counsel.

When can I apply for a guardianship?

From the birth of your child, you can apply for guardianship at any time - until your child's 18th birthday. When your child comes of age, the guardianship ends automatically. Even before the birth, you can apply for assistance if you are pregnant and not married and you and the other parent have not made a joint declaration of custody.

The assistance by the youth welfare office is free of charge.