The maintenance figure lives with circumstances: the child grows older, incomes change, new obligations appear. The single rule here is that changes get documented and payments stay provable.
Adjustments: income, age and new obligations
A fixed amount does not last forever. It changes when the child moves into the next age band, when income changes, and when new maintenance duties arise.
✓ Verified: 01/08/2026
WHAT TO DO
› Details and tips
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Max recommends:
I paid in cash for a year because it was simpler. When a dispute arose, none of it could be evidenced.
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Lea recommends:
Pay by transfer and put the month and the child’s name in the reference. Three words in a payment field cost less than any legal advice.
Useful Tools
- Verbraucherzentrale Legal
Consumer protection centres.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Does the amount rise automatically with age? ▾
The minimum is graded by age bands, but adjustment in the title does not always follow automatically. Where the title is drafted dynamically the amount rises with it; a static figure has to be changed separately.
What if my income falls? ▾
Report it immediately with evidence rather than unilaterally paying less. Cutting payments on your own creates arrears that do not disappear; a justified adjustment goes through recalculation or the court.
Do further children affect the amount? ▾
Yes, additional people entitled to maintenance are taken into account when distributing the payer’s capacity. The duty to the first child does not disappear, but the figure can change — and that also belongs documented.
Do I have to prove I paid? ▾
Yes, and the burden is on the payer. Transfers with a payment reference remain provable; cash without a receipt effectively does not. The same dispute three years later turns on whether the statements exist.