Cheering Fathers Shocked Mothers: Single parents need to find a job faster after divorce. Are children the losers of the new maintenance law?
Photo: Andi Berger, Fotolia
Pros and cons from the experts.
He is five years old. Weekdays to 16 clock in the day care center. He sees his father only on weekends. Destiny of a divorce child.
His mother is a single parent, like 1.6 million others in Germany. She has a job, a 70 percent job as a teacher. In addition child support, maintenance for the son. And caring for the ex-husband because she can not work full time. That's what the Berlin Supreme Court awarded her.
But since 2008, a new maintenance law applies. The father refers to this. He has a new family, does not want to pay more for the divorced woman. She could work full time. The son is older than three years and stays until 4pm. The Federal Court of Justice gave the father right. Now the Berlin Court of Appeal has to decide anew.
While fathers cheer, many mothers are appalled.
But parents should worry about the well-being of their children. For if judges now have to examine each individual case, they can hear witnesses, ask the youth welfare office. You can order psychological reviewers who interview and examine the offspring. For children in divorce situations an even greater burden on their soul!
PER
The Federal Ministry of Justice welcomes this verdict, because it brings the self-responsibility back into focus. Paragraph 1569 BGB, sentence 1 states: "After the divorce, it is up to each spouse to provide for himself."
"The verdict offers an opportunity for justice, because now courts - and also family lawyers - have to deal more with the specific case, with the living conditions, than before." There is a lot of extra work for both the judges and the lawyers ", explains Beatrix A. Ruetten, specialist lawyer for family law in Hamburg.
It is better for her if she soon returns to her learned profession or even takes up a profession instead of just hanging on to the umbilical cord of her former partner, "said family judge Meo-Micaela Hahne whose chairmanship was rendered by the Federal Court of Justice. The lawyer has one more tip: "A marriage contract is always good."
CONTRA
Critics of the judgment complain: Care in the hoard does not replace the education by the mother. It helps with homework, always has an open ear. Often there is still a lack of suitable care. And during the holidays there is often no support. Anyone who has been out of work for a long time will find it hard to get a job. Mothers need supplemental support because they are paid less than men.
"In the future, judges' decisions will last longer, and children will suffer the most, which is, paradoxically, their own good, but to decide, judges must, in difficult cases, bring in reviewers to interview the children Parents should always keep a close eye on their divorce and they should handle the divorce fairly in the interest of their child, "remarks Hamburg family lawyer Ruetten.
That's how much fathers pay today
Most fathers pay because children live with the mother. The height regulates the Düsseldorfer table. Example: The father of two children (1 and 2 years old) with a net income of 2200 euros pays for the children each 228 euros, that is 456 euros. After that he still has 1744 euros left. Since both children are under the age of three, the mother does not have to work yet. She is entitled to support. The is 747 euros (3/7 of 1644 euros). The man remains 996 euros. Less than 900 euros (including rent) he may not have for himself a month.
