Kindergeld - Georg-August-Universität Göttingen

Kindergeld (child benefit)

All parents who live in Germany and raise (a) child(ren) are entitled to child benefit. International students (residence permits according to §16) are the only exception.
The child benefit currently amounts to

204 euros for the first and second child
210 euros for the third and
235 euros for every further child.

A child of your own has no influence on your parents' entitlement to child benefit for you. This means that if you receive child benefit for your child yourself, continue your studies and are under 25 years of age, your parents can continue to receive child benefit for you.

FAQ

Is the child benefit application also available online?

Yes. You can find the latest form and the leaflets here.

Where do I apply for child benefit?

At the Familienkasse (family fund) of the Arbeitsamt (employment office).

How do I decide who applies for child benefit if only one parent can do so? And do I have to decide that, or is it irrelevant?

This is your decision, which you can change at any time with a little effort. In most cases, it actually doesn't matter which parent receives the child benefit. Exceptions can be the following:

One parent is not entitled to child benefit (international students with a residence permit according to §16).
One parent works for an employer who pays family allowancesfor which child benefit may be relevant.
If you are a single parent (but sharing custody of the child(ren)), the parent with whom the child(ren) mainly live(s) applies for child benefit. The other parent receives half the child benefit by offsetting it against the maintenance claim.
In patchwork constellations it may be useful for one parent to receive child benefit for all children (even if they are not their biological children) in order to increase the number of “children counted ”. This makes sense if one parent is then entitled to a child benefit for at least 3 children, because from the third child there is a higher child benefit. Living in one household is sufficient to claim child benefits for non-biological children – marriage or adoption is not necessary.