The official office for child benefit applications in Germany.
Prepare Kindergeld documentFamilienkasse is the official German government office responsible for processing Kindergeld (child benefit) applications. It operates under the Federal Employment Agency (Bundesagentur für Arbeit). Every family with children living in Germany applies here.
Since 2021 you can apply online at familienkasse.de using your ELSTER account or BundID. The online process is faster but requires a digital identity verification.
€250 per month for each child (from January 2023). Paid until age 18, or up to age 25 if the child is in education or training. Backdated payments possible for up to 6 months.
The Familienkasse is the office that decides on child benefit and pays it. The name is not a brand: the Bundesagentur für Arbeit administers the Federal Child Benefit Act under the technical directives of the Federal Family Ministry, and in doing so it carries the designation "Familienkasse" (§ 7 (1) and (2) BKGG). This page is about the procedure rather than the entitlement — which office is competent for you, how the application has to be filed, what the decision looks like, which duties follow it, and what to do when the answer is no. Every rule is from the Income Tax Act, the Federal Child Benefit Act or the Fiscal Code, all linked at the end.
Competence follows a chain, and the law states it plainly: the Familienkasse in whose district the entitled person has their residence takes the application and decides on the claim. If there is no residence in Germany, it is the office of the district where the person habitually stays; if there is neither residence nor habitual stay, the office of the district where the person works; and in the remaining cases the Familienkasse Bayern Nord (§ 13 (1) BKGG). That last sentence matters for cross-border families, because it means there is always an office with the file — nobody falls between two chairs. Note also that child benefit exists on two legal tracks: the Income Tax Act track for people with unlimited tax liability here, and the Federal Child Benefit Act track, which the same Familienkassen administer.
Child benefit is assessed by written decision and paid out by the Familienkassen, and the payment reaches back only over the six months before the beginning of the month in which your application arrived (§ 70 (1) EStG). The entitlement itself is untouched by that limit — the law says so in the next sentence — but the money for older months is gone. So the arrival date of the application is the number that decides how much is paid, and that is the one thing worth doing today rather than next month. A change in the circumstances, by contrast, takes effect from the date of the change, whichever direction it runs in (§ 70 (2) EStG).
The law has a route for the case where the person entitled to child benefit does not pass on the support: the benefit assessed for a child may be paid to the child itself if the entitled person fails their legal maintenance duty towards it. The same applies where they are not liable for maintenance because they cannot afford it, or owe less than the child benefit that could be paid out, and the payment may also go to the person or body that maintains the child instead (§ 74 (1) EStG). This is a decision of the Familienkasse on the facts, not something the parties can simply agree between themselves, and it is worth naming when a young adult is supporting themselves while the benefit still runs to a parent.
You have one month from the notification of the decision to lodge an Einspruch (§ 355 (1) AO). It can be submitted in writing or electronically, or declared on the record at the office; it is enough that the objection shows who is lodging it, and an incorrect designation does it no harm (§ 357 (1) AO). Send it to the authority whose decision is being contested (§ 357 (2) AO). Independently of any objection, the Familienkasse has to revoke or change an assessment from the date the circumstances changed (§ 70 (2) EStG), and material errors in the last assessment can be corrected with effect from the month after the correction is notified (§ 70 (3) EStG) — so an old mistake is not always a lost cause. This page is general information, not legal advice: with a refusal in hand, go to a Lohnsteuerhilfeverein, a tax adviser or a lawyer inside that month.
The one in whose district you live. Without a residence in Germany it is the office where you habitually stay, without that the one where you work, and in the remaining cases the Familienkasse Bayern Nord (§ 13 (1) BKGG).
The rule is an electronic application by the officially prescribed data set; the Familienkasse may waive it if you apply in writing and sign the application personally (§ 67 EStG).
Six months. Payment reaches back only over the six months before the beginning of the month in which the application arrived, although the entitlement itself is not affected by that limit (§ 70 (1) EStG).
Any change in the circumstances that is relevant to the benefit, or that you made statements about, and without delay (§ 68 (1) EStG). The assessment is then changed from the date of the change (§ 70 (2) EStG).
Yes, where the entitled person does not meet their legal maintenance duty towards the child, or owes less than the benefit; it may also go to whoever maintains the child (§ 74 (1) EStG).
Within one month of notification (§ 355 (1) AO), in writing, electronically or on the record at the authority whose decision you are contesting; it only has to be clear who is objecting, and a wrong label does no harm (§ 357 AO).
GermanyFlow is built and maintained by an independent developer with first-hand experience navigating German bureaucracy — Anmeldung, residence permits, Kindergeld, and more. Content is checked against official sources and updated when the rules change; see our Editorial Policy for details. Spotted something outdated? Let us know.