Elterngeld for Single Parents: All 14 Months Are Yours

When both parents live together, they share 14 Basiselterngeld months, with one parent limited to 12 unless the other takes at least 2.

For single parents, this restriction doesn't apply. You can take all 14 months yourself, with no minimum required from anyone else, as long as your own income from work is lower than before the birth in two of your Elterngeld months. Without income from work before the birth, for example as a student, it stays at 12 months.

The usual route requires both: the other parent lives neither with you nor with the child, and you meet the conditions for the tax-law relief amount for single parents. Living with another adult can therefore matter. Sole custody is not the general statutory test.

Exceptional routes apply where care by the other parent would endanger the child or is impossible because of severe illness or disability.

Here's something many single parents don't know: You're eligible for the Partnerschaftsbonus even without a partner!

For coupled parents, both need to work 24-32 hours. For single parents, only your hours count. If you work between 24-32 hours per week for 2-4 consecutive months, you get the bonus months.

To claim single-parent status, you'll need to provide:

• •Meldebescheinigung showing you live alone with your child
• •Declaration that the other parent doesn't live in your household
• •Custody documentation if relevant

The Elterngeldstelle may ask follow-up questions, especially if the parents were previously together.