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New Düsseldorf table
Maintenance rates 2024: This is how high child maintenance will be
This is how high child maintenance will be in 2024
Children are entitled to child maintenance after their parents have separated or divorced, among other things. The money is paid to the parent with whom the child mainly lives. The monthly child maintenance is intended to secure the child's minimum subsistence level and cover the costs of housing, clothing, food, school supplies and leisure activities. Guideline values for the amount can be found in the so-called Düsseldorf table. This is a recognized guideline for family courts when determining maintenance requirements. Here you can find answers to the most important questions about calculating child maintenance.
The Düsseldorf table provides information on the amount of child maintenance. This guideline is regularly updated and published by the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court. The amount of child maintenance is determined on the basis of four age groups and ten income groups. It is based on the statutory minimum maintenance. The aim is to standardize the maintenance jurisdiction of the family courts with regard to child maintenance and to make it fair.
New maintenance rates 2024
The minimum maintenance for underage children was raised on January 1, 2024. The monthly amounts are graded according to the age of the children and their net income. There are four age groups and 15 income groups.
In the first age group (0 to 5 years), the minimum maintenance in the lowest income bracket is 480 euros per month.
For a child in the second age group (6 to 11 years), the rate is 551 euros per month.
In the third age bracket from 12 to 17 years, it is 645 euros per month.
The minimum maintenance for adult children (fourth age group from 18 years) is 689 euros.
These are the minimum amounts that the debtor must pay. If your income is higher, the rate also increases. You can check the current table to see the rate you need by assigning your monthly net income to the age of your child.
The so-called means-tested amount is intended to ensure a balanced distribution of income between the parent liable to pay maintenance and the parent entitled to maintenance. This is intended to prevent the parent liable for maintenance from being financially disadvantaged. The needs control amount is 1,750 euros in the 2nd income group and increases by 100 euros for each additional income group. From the 11th income group onwards, the means-tested amount increases more sharply.
Child benefit is deducted from the child's maintenance requirements (§ 1612 b BGB). As both parents are entitled to child benefit, half of the child benefit is usually deducted for underage children and the full child benefit for adults. In 2024, the child benefit per child is 250 euros. The so-called payment amount tables can be found in the appendix to the Düsseldorf table. They show the maintenance to be paid after deduction of half or full child benefit.
Payers liable for maintenance are entitled to a necessary personal requirement (deductible), which must at least remain after deduction of the maintenance owed. The amount of the deductible was increased in the Düsseldorf Table 2024.
The deductible of an employed debtor is €1,450 per month for unmarried minors and adult children up to the age of 21 in general school education.
If the debtor is not in gainful employment, the amount is 1,200 euros per month. This includes up to 650 euros for accommodation including apportionable ancillary costs and heating (warm rent). If the housing costs (warm rent) exceed the amount shown and are not unreasonable, the deductible should increase.
Further details, for example on maintenance for children who are studying, can be found in the notes to the table.
About the Düsseldorf table
When it comes to the question of how much money a parent liable for cash maintenance must pay for the joint child after a separation or divorce, reference is almost always made to the Düsseldorf table. This is a guideline for courts when determining maintenance requirements. It is regularly revised by judges of the family divisions of the Düsseldorf, Cologne and Hamm Higher Regional Courts (OLG) and the Maintenance Commission of the German Family Court Conference (Deutscher Familiengerichtstag e.V.) as well as on the basis of a survey of the other Higher Regional Courts. The Düsseldorf table can be used for the whole of Germany following corresponding agreements by the higher regional courts. In addition, guidelines of individual higher regional courts are applied.
The Düsseldorf table is usually updated every year. The payment amounts are adjusted if the amount of child benefit changes.
Where can I find help and advice?
If you have general questions about child maintenance, you can contact the youth welfare office in your town or municipality. They can provide you with information on the legal regulations and help with the calculation.
