Legal assistance with child support in Germany

Questioner

I have a question for Swantje Meyer-Mews. My boyfriend has 2 children in Germany, he pays for their child support, which makes sense. Only this amount is gigantic, this amount was arrived at according to the Dusseldorf table. If he hadn't had me, he wouldn't have been able to provide for himself. I pay most of our joint expenses. According to German law, my income is not included, but I do contribute to it indirectly. His ex has more than 1100 euros in child support and child benefit that she receives every month, in addition to that she has a job from which she earns an income. My boyfriend can hardly offer the children anything or I have to pay for it. With their mother they get expensive gifts, vacations and they can renovate all sorts of things in the house. At the time we pointed out your message to my boyfriend's lawyer that they take into account the purchasing power in the Netherlands for Dutch people, but she dismissed this as misleading advertising to earn money. My boyfriend simply has to pay the amount and otherwise they can say that he has to take an extra job. My question is, is it true that when calculating the maintenance, the purchasing power in the Netherlands has to be taken into account? If so, who should we contact? The lawyers my friend has had say that the judge will not agree and that he will lose anyway. Is it written somewhere that different calculations have to be made for Dutch people? Or is it possible to challenge it via a judge in the Netherlands?

Lawyer

If the children live in Germany, it is unfortunately not possible to handle the case in a Dutch court. Under certain circumstances, you can request a recalculation of the amount of maintenance in Germany. Whether this is indeed possible in your case, I cannot answer without more information. You can send me an email with some more information. I need to know when the calculation took place, in what way the amount of maintenance was determined (for example, judgment, notarial deed) and whether your friend's situation has changed in the meantime (new job, more costs, etc.). I have never had the experience that the judge does not consider the difference in purchasing power to be important. There are cases where the result does not change. Whether that is the case in your case, I cannot estimate. You can refer your lawyer to the judgment of the BGH of 09-07-2014 (XII ZB 661/12). This case concerns a maintenance obligated person who lives in Switzerland, but I have always had success with the referral on the calculation method.