A birth in Germany triggers several official entitlements, each with its own office and deadline, and a handful of private decisions that parents tend to postpone. Elterngeld and Kindergeld are not favours: they are entitlements paid on application by public bodies, and the usual way to lose money is to apply late. The private side has no deadline, which is exactly why it slips.
A baby on the way: the decisions that last
A birth brings deadlines, new money in and new costs, and a few decisions that slip because nothing forces them. Here are the ones that last.
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Claim what's yours, on time
Health insurance within two months, Elterngeld within three, Kindergeld within six: only a few months are ever paid back.
Elterngeld. 65 to 67 % of net pay, €300 to €1,800 a month.
Parents share 12 months, or 14 if both take time off. It's paid back for only three months before the application (§ 7 BEEG), and none is paid above €175,000 of joint taxable income.
Kindergeld. €259 a month per child in 2026.
Applied for at the Familienkasse with your and the child's tax IDs, and paid back for six months before the application (§ 70 EStG).
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Cover the family
Who insures the baby turns on how both parents are insured, and life cover and a will matter more with a child.
Health insurance. Free through a parent in public insurance, in most cases.
Both public: the baby is family-insured at no extra cost. Both private: the baby needs a policy, without health questions if registered within two months. One of each and married: it turns on the private parent's income (§ 10 (3) SGB V). How the two systems work.
Life cover and a guardian. Who would raise the child, and on what.
Term life insurance (Risikolebensversicherung) pays a fixed sum if a parent dies. A will is the only place to name a guardian (§ 1782 BGB).
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See what time off does to your pension
Months off pay less in, but raising a child earns credits of its own.
Three years of credits per child. As if earning about average pay.
The first three years count for one parent as if they'd earned about average pay (Kindererziehungszeiten). Parents choose which of them gets it, by joint declaration, for the future and at most two months back (§§ 56, 70 SGB VI).
Saving for your child. In whose name matters.
Money in the child's name is the child's from 18. A child has its own tax-free allowances, so modest income in its name usually goes untaxed.
1. The first weeks: order and deadlines
The birth must be registered within one week at the civil registry office (Standesamt) for the place of birth (§ 18 PStG); hospitals usually notify it themselves. The Standesamt issues the birth certificate and free certificates for official purposes, and passes the registration on to the residents' office. The Bundeszentralamt für Steuern then sends the child's tax ID, and the Familienkasse follows with an access code for the Kindergeld application. The federal family portal's checklist then sets three windows:
- health insurance: register the baby within two months;
- Elterngeld: apply within the first three months;
- Kindergeld: apply within six months.
Unmarried fathers become the legal father by acknowledging paternity (Vaterschaftsanerkennung) at the Standesamt or the youth welfare office (Jugendamt), which is possible before the birth (§ 1594(4) BGB); joint custody needs a separate declaration (Sorgeerklärung, § 1626a BGB). Legal paternity is what gives the child maintenance and inheritance rights with respect to the father (§ 1592, § 1601 and § 1924 BGB).
One item has a quieter deadline. The first three years of child-raising are credited to one parent's state pension, each month worth 0.0833 earnings points — the value of contributions on average pay. Parents raising the child together can choose which of them receives the credit by joint declaration to the Deutsche Rentenversicherung, but only for the future and at most two months back (§ 56 and § 70 SGB VI).
2. Elterngeld
Elterngeld (parental allowance) replaces part of the income lost while caring for the baby. It is paid by the Elterngeldstelle (parental allowance office) of your federal state to parents who live in Germany, care for the child themselves and work no more than 32 hours a week (§ 1 BEEG). Nationals of countries outside the EU, the EEA and Switzerland qualify depending on their residence permit (§ 1(7) BEEG).
- Amount: 65–67% of previous net earnings, more for low earners (up to 100%), at least €300 and at most €1,800 a month (§ 2 BEEG). ElterngeldPlus pays at most half as much, for twice as long (§ 4a BEEG).
- Duration: parents share 12 months of basic Elterngeld, or 14 if both take time off, and can draw it simultaneously in only one of the first twelve months. A partnership bonus adds two to four ElterngeldPlus months each if both work 24 to 32 hours a week (§ 4 and § 4b BEEG).
- Income limit: none is paid if the parents' combined taxable income (zu versteuerndes Einkommen) in the calendar year before the birth exceeded €175,000 — the same limit for single parents, for births since 1 April 2025 (§ 1(8) BEEG). Taxable income is well below gross pay.
- Basis: for employees, the 12 calendar months before the month of birth, skipping months of maternity pay (§ 2b BEEG); if the tax class changed in that period, the one in force for most of the months counts (§ 2c BEEG). For the self-employed, the profit of the last tax year before the birth.
Maternity pay (Mutterschaftsgeld) and the employer's top-up after the birth are set off against Elterngeld (§ 3 BEEG). It is paid retroactively for only the three months of the child's life (Lebensmonate) before the one in which the application arrives (§ 7 BEEG), and can be applied for online in every state. Elterngeld is tax-free but raises the rate on other income (§ 32b EStG), which makes a tax return compulsory once it exceeds €410 in a year (§ 46(2) EStG). Parental leave from work (Elternzeit) is separate, requested from the employer at least seven weeks ahead (§ 16 BEEG). The government is preparing a reform of Elterngeld; as of October 2026 it is not law, and the minister has promised that parents already expecting keep today's rules (speech of 10 September 2026).
3. Kindergeld
Kindergeld (child benefit) is €259 per child per month in 2026 (§ 66 EStG). It is applied for at the Familienkasse (family benefits office) of the Bundesagentur für Arbeit, with your and the child's tax IDs, and paid retroactively for only six months before the month of application (§ 70 EStG). As with Elterngeld, nationals of countries outside the EU, the EEA and Switzerland qualify depending on their residence permit (§ 62(2) EStG). If you've only just moved here yourself, or came with children already, the rules are different again: Kindergeld for a newcomer.
In the annual tax assessment, the Finanzamt checks automatically whether the child allowances — €9,756 per child for a couple in 2026 (§ 32(6) EStG) — would save more tax than the Kindergeld received, and applies whichever is better (§ 31 EStG). Families whose income covers their own needs but not their children's can also claim a child supplement (Kinderzuschlag, § 6a BKGG) from the Familienkasse.
4. Health insurance for the baby
- Both parents in statutory insurance: the baby is covered through family insurance (Familienversicherung) at no extra cost (§ 10 SGB V), to 18 and longer while in education: family insurance and its age limits.
- Both privately insured: the baby needs its own policy. Registered with a parent's insurer within two months of the birth, it runs from birth without health questions or waiting periods, provided that parent meets any minimum insurance period in the contract, which can be at most three months; cover cannot exceed the parent's (§ 198 VVG).
- One of each, unmarried: the baby can be family-insured through the statutory parent, whatever the other earns.
- One of each, married: family insurance is excluded if the privately insured parent's total income regularly exceeds one-twelfth of the annual income threshold — €6,450 a month in 2026 (§ 2 SVBezGrV 2026) — and is higher than the statutory parent's (§ 10(3) SGB V). The child then needs a private policy or its own voluntary statutory membership, with contributions.
How the two systems compare over time is covered in our guide to switching health insurance.
5. Liability and life insurance
Liability. Family liability policies generally include children. But children under seven are not legally liable for damage they cause (§ 828 BGB), and where the parents supervised properly (§ 832 BGB), as a rule no one is. A liability insurer then has nothing to pay unless the policy expressly covers damage caused by young children (deliktunfähige Kinder); some do, and the terms say which.
Life insurance. Term life insurance (Risikolebensversicherung) pays a fixed sum if the insured person dies within the term; a birth bears on the sum insured and on the named beneficiary (Bezugsberechtigter). For unmarried parents, tax matters too: between them the tax-free inheritance allowance is only €20,000, against €500,000 for a spouse and €400,000 for each child (§ 16 ErbStG), and a payout under a policy the deceased took out counts as inheritance (§ 3(1) no. 4 ErbStG) — so who holds the policy can decide whether it is taxed.
6. A will and a guardian
Without a will, the law decides: a surviving spouse shares the estate with the children (§ 1931 BGB), while an unmarried partner has no statutory share at all. A will must be written entirely by hand and signed, or made before a notary (§ 2231 and § 2247 BGB).
A will is also the only place to name who would raise the child. Parents with custody can name a guardian (Vormund), or exclude someone, even before the birth (§ 1782 BGB). The family court appoints the guardian and can pass over the parents' choice only for specific reasons, such as the child's welfare (§ 1783 BGB).
For internationals, the EU Succession Regulation applies the law of the country where you are habitually resident when you die — German law, for someone living here — unless your will chooses the law of your nationality (Articles 21 and 22, Regulation 650/2012).
7. Saving for a child
- Whose money it is. Money in the child's name belongs to the child. Parents manage it until the 18th birthday and must invest it on principles of sound financial management (§ 1642 BGB); from then on the child decides. Money in a parent's name stays the parent's, and is taxed as theirs.
- Tax. A child has its own basic tax-free allowance (€12,348 in 2026, § 32a EStG) and saver's allowance (€1,000, § 20(9) EStG), so modest investment income in the child's name, with an exemption order (Freistellungsauftrag) for the child, usually goes untaxed.
- Riester. A parent with a Riester contract can receive a child supplement (Kinderzulage) of up to €300 a year for each child born since 2008 for whom Kindergeld is paid (§ 85 EStG). The reformed state-subsidised products starting in 2027 also pay a child supplement, up to €300 a year whatever the child's year of birth (Altersvorsorgereformgesetz).
The other life stages
- New in Germany, or a first job here
- Moving in together, or getting married
- Settled, and building up
- Planning for retirement, with a check-up of your pension gap
The short version
The birth is registered within a week; then come three windows — health insurance within two months, Elterngeld within three (only three months are ever backdated) and Kindergeld within six. In 2026 Kindergeld is €259 a month, and Elterngeld stops above €175,000 of taxable income. The private list — liability cover for young children, life insurance, a will naming a guardian, whose name savings are in — has no deadline, which is why it slips.
Primary sources checked on 15 October 2026: the statutes and official pages linked above.