{"id":255,"date":"2014-10-07T20:13:00","date_gmt":"2014-10-08T02:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/10\/everything-you-ever-wanted-to-know-about-elternunterhalt.html"},"modified":"2016-08-16T09:51:16","modified_gmt":"2016-08-16T15:51:16","slug":"everything-you-ever-wanted-to-know-about-elternunterhalt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/10\/everything-you-ever-wanted-to-know-about-elternunterhalt.html","title":{"rendered":"Everything you ever wanted to know about Elternunterhalt"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

OK, that makes for a pretty short post. \u00a0But once I tell you what I\u2019m talking about, you will want to know more \u2014 and it\u2019ll make for a nice little topic for small talk at your next cocktail party.<\/p>\n

Child support, in German, is \u201cKindesunterhalt.\u201d \u00a0And if I tell you that \u201cEltern\u201d in German means \u201cparents,\u201d you\u2019ll be able to draw the conclusion that Elternunterhalt means \u201cparent support,\u201d and you\u2019ll be correct. \u00a0(All of the following actually comes from Wikipedia.de, here<\/a> and here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

Specifically, it refers to the obligation of a child to pay the nursing home costs of a parent, to the extent they exceed health insurance benefits. \u00a0The formula functions much the same as the \u201cexpected family contribution\u201d calculation for American parents applying for financial aid: \u00a0there\u2019s a fixed amount of \u201cSelbstbehalt\u201d calculated based on family size and other needs (e.g., work-related expenses, debts, etc.), there are exemptions for a moderate amount of retirement savings, and half the excess income beyond this amount can be taken by the government to pay for the nursing home. \u00a0In addition, assets can be taken, with the ability to keep only a modest amount of savings. <\/p>\n

If there are siblings, Elternunterhalt can be collected from any or all of them who have incomes over the \u201cSelbstbehalt\u201d amount; if this total amount exceeds the amount of the nursing home costs, then a pro-rated amount will be taken from each child.<\/p>\n

If the children can\u2019t afford to pay, then the government can go after the grandchildren. <\/p>\n

And it doesn\u2019t matter if the children haven\u2019t had contact with the parents, except for (if my German reading comprehension is good enough) cases where the parents were neglectful of the children or other circumstances. \u00a0But if they were bad parents on account of mental illness, then the kid is still responsible.<\/p>\n

What happens if all of the children have incomes below this Selbstbehalt level? \u00a0Or if, as is the case for many young Germans today, they never had any children? \u00a0Well, then, the state pays. \u00a0And, from what I can tell, there\u2019s not an issue, as is the case in the U.S., that there\u2019s a difference in the quality of institution between a \u201cprivate-pay\u201d patient and a Medicaid patient \u2014 or, rather, that good-quality nursing homes generally demand that prospective residents have enough assets to manage a good couple years at \u201cfull price\u201d to subsidize the costs of those patients who have outlived their assets, and that the sorts of nursing homes which accept Medicaid right off the bat are the sorts of places none of us would want our parents to be. <\/p>\n

So there\u2019s no real benefit in sucking up and paying the Elternunterhalt (again, if I understand it correctly); it doesn\u2019t buy you peace of mind that your parents are being cared for better than they would if you cheat your way out of your obligations. \u00a0And there\u2019s no benefit in having had kids in the first place, either, because otherwise you just get the nursing home paid as a welfare benefit right away.<\/p>\n

(Apparently, they try to come after you even if you live overseas, though I don\u2019t know how they do that! \u00a0But nursing homes are only a fraction of the cost there than here.)<\/p>\n

And now is the point at which I say: \u00a0what do you think? \u00a0Is this fair to adult children? \u00a0Is it a perverse incentive towards childlessness, in a country with such a low birth rate? \u00a0 At any rate, it avoids issues of Medicaid fraud; parents can\u2019t just transfer assets to their children and claim poverty.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

OK, that makes for a pretty short post. \u00a0But once I tell you what I\u2019m talking about, you will want to know more \u2014 and it\u2019ll make for a nice little topic for small talk at your next cocktail party. Child support, in German, is \u201cKindesunterhalt.\u201d \u00a0And if I tell you that \u201cEltern\u201d in German […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[450],"tags":[17,191],"class_list":["post-255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-actuarial","tag-germany","tag-nursing-homes"],"yoast_head":"\nEverything you ever wanted to know about Elternunterhalt<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"OK, that makes for a pretty short post.  But once I tell you what I'm talking about, you will want to know more -- and it'll make for a nice little\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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