Familienrecht: The Complete Guide to German Family Law

Familienrecht, German family law, runs on one federal code with no state by state axis to check at all. There is no separate family law for Bavaria, Berlin or Hamburg. Every rule here, and on the eight pages this hub links to, comes from the same source: the Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch (BGB), the Civil Code, applied identically across all 16 Bundesländer.

That uniformity does not make the substance simple. A handful of structural facts surprise almost every anglo reader arriving in Germany: a mandatory year of separation before divorce, an automatic pension split nobody has to ask for, a marital property regime that shares almost nothing while the marriage lasts, and a child support figure read off a published table rather than argued from scratch. This hub orients you across all of it and routes you to the page with the depth you need.

Information last verified on 19 July 2026. This page provides general legal information and does not constitute legal advice in an individual case.

One code, applied everywhere

Unlike employment law or traffic law, where a handful of details vary between the Bundesländer, family law offers essentially nothing to check locally. The BGB governs marriage, divorce, maintenance, custody and property between spouses the same way whether a case is filed in Munich or Rostock. What differs is only which local court has jurisdiction, never which rule applies. For the wider picture of German courts and statutes outside family law, see the Germany law hub.

An anglo reader often expects a dedicated family court building, separate from the ordinary civil courts. Germany does not have one. § 23b of the Gerichtsverfassungsgesetz (GVG, Courts Constitution Act) establishes the Familiengericht as a division formed within the Amtsgericht, the local court that also handles ordinary civil matters. A divorce petition, a custody dispute or a maintenance claim is filed with the Familiengericht division that has jurisdiction, typically based on where the spouses or their children last lived together.

Getting divorced: the Trennungsjahr is the whole structure

The single fact that surprises the most people is that a German divorce cannot usually happen quickly, and it does not turn on who did what to whom. Germany abolished fault based divorce with a 1977 reform. The only ground now is that the marriage has failed, and why it failed plays essentially no role in whether the court grants the divorce.

What decides timing is separation. § 1565 Abs. 2 BGB blocks a divorce before the spouses have lived apart for a year, unless continuing the marriage would be an unreasonable hardship because of the other spouse's conduct, a narrow exception reserved for serious situations. Once a year has passed, § 1566 BGB treats the marriage's failure as conclusively established if both spouses want the divorce or one consents. Without consent, the same presumption applies after three years instead. Living apart does not require two addresses; German law recognises separation inside the same home once a couple stops running a shared household, which matters in a tight rental market.

Alongside the divorce itself, the court also carries out the Versorgungsausgleich, splitting the pension rights each spouse built up during the marriage in half, automatically, without either spouse needing to ask for it. It has no close equivalent in many other legal systems and is one of the most consequential parts of the whole process. The full mechanics, including how the split is calculated scheme by scheme, live on divorce in Germany, which also walks through the realistic filing sequence from separation to final decree. What a divorce costs, and how the court's own fee calculation works, is covered separately on divorce costs in Germany.

Marital property: why Zugewinngemeinschaft is not community property

Zugewinngemeinschaft is the default property regime for every German marriage unless the couple agrees otherwise by a notarised marriage contract. The name is regularly translated as community of property, and that translation is the single biggest misunderstanding an anglo reader brings to this topic.

Nothing is pooled during the marriage. Each spouse owns, manages and can sell their own property exactly as if unmarried, with no automatic joint ownership of the family home, savings or investments. What is shared, only when the marriage ends, is the increase in each spouse's own net worth over the marriage. The spouse whose net worth grew less receives a cash claim, the Ausgleichsforderung, equal to half the gap between the two gains. No asset changes hands; it is simply a debt one spouse owes the other. See equalisation of gains for how that gain is measured, with a worked example, and what happens to an inheritance received partway through the marriage.

Maintenance: two claims, not one, and who gets paid first

German law splits spousal maintenance into two distinct claims, and treating them as one continuous entitlement is a common and costly mistake. Trennungsunterhalt, maintenance during separation, runs under § 1361 BGB until the divorce becomes final, and reflects the marital standard of living. Nachehelicher Unterhalt, maintenance after the divorce, is governed by §§ 1569 ff. BGB, and starts from the opposite assumption, that each spouse now supports themselves (Eigenverantwortung), unless a specific ground applies, such as caring for a young child, age, illness or ongoing training.

When a paying parent or spouse's income cannot stretch to cover every claim against it, § 1609 BGB decides who is paid first rather than splitting the shortfall proportionally. Minor children rank ahead of a spouse who is not also caring for a young child. See spousal maintenance in Germany for both claims in full, the guideline percentage courts use as a starting point, and how that ranking plays out in a worked example.

Child support: reading the Düsseldorfer Tabelle

Child support for a minor is not argued from first principles in most German cases. It is read off a published chart, the Düsseldorfer Tabelle, issued by the Oberlandesgericht Düsseldorf and updated most Januaries. The 2026 table, in force since 1 January 2026, sets the lowest income group's figures at EUR 486 a month for a child aged 0 to 5, EUR 558 for 6 to 11, EUR 653 for 12 to 17, and EUR 698 from age 18, scaling upward across 15 income groups.

The table itself has no force of law. It is a court issued guideline that family courts follow in practice, and the statutory basis sits in §§ 1601 ff. BGB, with § 1612a BGB fixing the statutory minimum for a minor child. Child benefit, Kindergeld, is then deducted: half of the 2026 rate of EUR 259 a month for a minor child living with the other parent, and the full amount for an adult child. See the full Düsseldorfer Tabelle for all 15 income groups, and child support and Unterhalt for the statutory framework, including the Selbstbehalt that protects a paying parent's own income.

Custody and contact: the current rule, and a reform that is not yet law

Married parents share joint custody, elterliche Sorge, automatically. Unmarried parents are different, and this is where the law is furthest from what many anglo readers expect. § 1626a BGB currently gives the mother sole custody by default when parents are not married. Joint custody only follows a joint declaration by both parents (a Sorgeerklärung), a later marriage, or a court granting it on application.

A reform, the Kindschaftsrechtsmodernisierungsgesetz (KiMoG), would make joint custody automatic for unmarried parents on an agreed acknowledgment of paternity, unless a parent objects within a set window. As of 19 July 2026 this is a Referentenentwurf, a ministry draft bill whose consultation closed on 10 July 2026. It has not been enacted and is not expected before 2027. Treat it as a proposal to watch, not the current rule. See custody in Germany for how § 1626a operates today.

Separately from who holds custody, § 1684 BGB frames a child's relationship with each parent as the child's own right, not simply something a parent is permitted to exercise. Each parent is both entitled and obliged to have contact with the child, a framing that differs from how many anglo readers think about access after separation. See contact rights in Germany for how that duty works in practice.

Your situation, and the right page

A relocating employee weighing parental leave alongside a custody question should also see German employment law for how Elternzeit and Elterngeld work.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does German family law differ between states?

No. Family law runs entirely from the federal BGB and applies identically in all 16 Bundesländer. What differs locally is only which Amtsgericht and Familiengericht division has jurisdiction, never which rule applies.

Is there a separate family court in Germany?

Not as a standalone court. The Familiengericht is a division formed within the Amtsgericht, the local court, under § 23b GVG. A divorce, custody or maintenance case is filed with that division.

How long do you have to be separated before you can divorce in Germany?

Normally a year, under § 1565 Abs. 2 BGB. After that year, failure of the marriage is conclusively established once both spouses want the divorce or one consents. Without consent, the same presumption applies after three years, under § 1566 BGB.

Is Zugewinngemeinschaft the same as community property?

No, and this is the most common misunderstanding anglo readers bring to German family law. Each spouse keeps their own property throughout the marriage. Only the growth in each spouse's net worth is equalised, and only through a cash claim on divorce, not by splitting ownership of any asset.

What is the Versorgungsausgleich?

It is the automatic division of pension rights each spouse built up during the marriage, carried out as part of nearly every divorce without either spouse needing to apply for it. It runs independently of any division of other property under the Zugewinnausgleich.

How is German child support actually calculated?

Family courts use the Düsseldorfer Tabelle, a guideline chart published by the Oberlandesgericht Düsseldorf, to convert a paying parent's net income and a child's age into a benchmark figure, then deduct part or all of the monthly Kindergeld. The table is not a statute; the underlying obligation sits in §§ 1601 ff. BGB.

Do unmarried parents automatically share custody in Germany?

Not currently. § 1626a BGB gives the mother sole custody by default, unless the parents make a joint custody declaration, later marry, or a court grants joint custody. A draft bill, the KiMoG, would change this, but as of 19 July 2026 it has not been enacted and is not expected before 2027.

Which claim covers spousal support, and does it continue automatically after divorce?

Maintenance during separation, Trennungsunterhalt, and maintenance after divorce, nachehelicher Unterhalt, are separate claims under different sections of the BGB. The post divorce claim is not automatic and applies only where a specific statutory ground is met.