Stepparents and Fathers Before Paternity Is Recognised: Who Can Get Elterngeld

Normally you can only get Elterngeld for your own child. The mother is always the person who gave birth. A man is the legal father if he was married to the mother at the birth, has recognised paternity, or a court has determined his paternity. Being the biological father alone is not enough.

For some people who are not, or not yet, the legal parent, § 1 Abs. 3 BEEG creates its own claim. All other conditions still apply: living in Germany, living with the child, caring for the child yourself and working no more than 32 hours a week.

If you take the child of your spouse or registered life partner into your household, you can get Elterngeld (§ 1 Abs. 3 Satz 1 Nr. 2 BEEG). This covers children from an earlier relationship and children born outside the marriage. It also helps married same-sex couples: the spouse of the birth mother can claim through this rule.

You need your marriage or partnership certificate. If the child lives in two homes, it must live at least a third of the time in yours.

An unmarried partner of the parent is not covered. Without marriage or registered partnership, and without legal parenthood, there is no claim.

Sometimes a father has already declared his recognition of paternity, but it cannot take effect yet, for example because the mother is still married to another man. Or he has applied to the family court to establish paternity and the court has not decided. In both cases he can already get Elterngeld if he lives with the child (§ 1 Abs. 3 Satz 1 Nr. 3 BEEG).

• What the Elterngeldstelle expects:
• •Proof that the recognition or court procedure has been started
• •The delay is only due to processing time, with no sign that the recognition will fail
• •Updates on how the procedure is going while you receive Elterngeld

If the procedure ends without paternity, the claim ends for the future. Months already paid are not reclaimed for that reason alone.

Stepparents, fathers before effective recognition, and parents without custody can only receive Elterngeld if the parent with custody agrees (§ 4d Satz 2 BEEG). This also applies to a father whose paternity is recognised but who has no custody.

• •The consent must be in writing. A signature on the other person's application is enough.
• •It can cover the whole period or only some months.
• •It can be withdrawn at any time in writing to the Elterngeldstelle. The other person's claim then ends at the end of the current life month.
• •The parent with sole custody does not need anyone's consent, even to claim all months alone.

If you cannot agree on who takes which months, the parent with custody decides alone. There is no half-and-half split (§ 5 Abs. 3 BEEG).

The usual limits apply to everyone together: 12 months of Basiselterngeld, plus 2 partner months if income drops, plus the Partnerschaftsbonus (§ 4d Satz 1 BEEG). If one person takes 4 months and no partner months apply, 8 months are left for everyone else.

For the 175,000 € income limit, the taxable incomes of both entitled people are added, also when one of them claims as a stepparent or as a father before effective recognition (§ 1 Abs. 8 Satz 2 BEEG).