As we have mentioned in our earlier articles, Germany has a highly developed social welfare system, designed to protect citizens in the event of unemployment or incapacity to work, to support children and young people, as well as refugees who have found shelter in Germany and other groups in need of financial assistance. The principal law governing entitlement to benefits is Germany’s Social Code (German: Sozialgesetzbuch, SGB). This document consists of 12 books, each of which is a separate statute governing a particular type of social benefit. As a result, a given benefit may be referred to either by the number of the relevant book in the Code, by the name of another law governing that benefit, or by the name of the benefit itself — for example, SGB XII, or “social assistance.” There are also a number of other laws governing financial support in situations not covered by the Code.
In order to receive benefits, a person first needs a status that entitles them to do so. Accordingly, an applicant must either be a citizen of Germany or hold a right of residence (Aufenthaltsrecht) and reside permanently in the country. This is the general rule, to which the law may attach additional restrictions or conditions. A person must submit an application to the authority responsible for the particular benefit (usually the Sozialamt). Without an application, no benefits are automatically calculated or paid out. This can be a problem for foreign nationals, who often don’t fully understand the social welfare system and are unaware of what benefits they may be entitled to in Germany. Social assistance in Germany, as well as help finding employment, can be obtained through the Arbeitsamt/Agentur für Arbeit/Jobcenter. This system is very well developed in Germany, and many people make successful use of it.
Financial support is provided to the unemployed and those in need, mainly in the form of non-repayable financial assistance in the amount necessary to cover a family’s basic needs. At the same time, the law does not rule out interest-free loans to cover urgent, specific needs beyond basic necessities (purchasing and repairing household appliances, paying rent arrears, putting down a security deposit for an apartment, and so on). Of course, recipients of benefits are always required to repay any funds provided as a loan to the state. A low-income family may also receive additional payments covering housing costs, transport, health insurance contributions, essential items, and other needs. At the same time, it’s important to understand — if you plan to rely on social benefits in the land of Goethe, keep in mind that Germans are a very meticulous and law-abiding people. Accordingly, if it later emerges that, while receiving payments, a person was working illegally, used the funds for a purpose other than intended, or provided incomplete or inaccurate information to a public authority, all payments can be significantly reduced or even revoked at once, and the offender may be held liable — potentially even criminally.
Clients come to our firm with all sorts of problems, sometimes not fully understanding what actually caused them. The situation is made significantly worse when an unsuspecting, law-abiding citizen suddenly faces criminal liability in the form of a serious fine or even imprisonment. Our firm’s lawyers, who know German law inside and out and have years of experience behind them, know how to handle each such case. Their main task is to help the client, first, understand exactly what they are being accused of, and then either challenge the charges, if they don’t reflect reality, or mitigate the penalty.
Client Story: A “Letter of Happiness” From the Police
Our client — let’s call him Vadim — like many of our clients, came to us convinced that “all was lost.” His situation did indeed leave much to be desired: he had received in the mail a so-called “letter of happiness” from the police, informing him that criminal proceedings had been opened against him under §263 of the Criminal Code — “fraud.” The potential liability for this offense is a substantial fine or imprisonment for up to five years. None of this gave our client much reason for optimism. Having lived in Germany for more than ten years, he knew exactly what breaking the law could mean here, yet he couldn’t recall any wrongdoing on his part and had no idea where any of this had come from.
A €300 Overpayment and a Two-Week Gap in a Move-Out Date
After the client signed a power of attorney authorizing our firm’s lawyer to act on his behalf, the lawyer immediately got to work on the case. First, he requested the case file from the public prosecutor’s office to understand exactly what the client was being accused of and to develop an appropriate defense strategy. Once the file arrived, the following picture emerged. Vadim received a monthly benefit from the state to cover his rent. He had lived in the same rented apartment for a long time and handled payments to his landlord himself. Based on the 2015 statement, in early 2016 he received a €300 utility overpayment credited to his account, which, for whatever reason, he either didn’t want to, or simply forgot to, return to the state.
In addition, in 2016 he made another mistake: he informed the authority responsible for calculating and paying his benefits (the Job Center) that his daughter, who had previously lived with him, had deregistered and moved to another city to attend university on October 30, 2016. In fact, according to official records, this had happened two weeks earlier, on September 15, 2016. As a result, the Job Center calculated and overpaid Vadim “rent money” that included his daughter living in the apartment for those extra two weeks. In a later personal conversation with the client, it emerged that this had been done for a single reason — to secure a spot for his daughter in a student dormitory, which required her to be deregistered from her old address. In reality, though, the young woman had continued living with her father until the end of that month regardless. Vadim could barely recall the unfortunate €300, and, quite worked up, spent a long time explaining to us that at the time he had been utterly consumed with helping his daughter prepare to enter a prestigious university. On top of that, the Job Center kept bombarding him with letters he was practically drowning in. He claimed he had intended to write to the Job Center asking that the amount be credited toward the following month’s rent payment, but, as so often happens, “never got around to it.”
The Lawyer’s Work: No Intent in Either Episode
These two seemingly harmless missteps, occurring practically one after another, so irritated a social services employee that he referred the case file to the police. What had happened “through carelessness” could have ended very badly for our client. It was necessary to convince the prosecutor’s investigators to discontinue the criminal case for lack of sufficient grounds under §170(2) of the German Code of Criminal Procedure (Strafprozessordnung — StPO). Our lawyer prepared and filed a petition explaining in detail why these two incidents had occurred, and presented evidence that the suspect had had no intent whatsoever in committing either of the alleged offenses. The lawyer also gave convincing assurances that this kind of misunderstanding was the first, and would be the last, of its kind in our client’s life.
Outcome: Case Closed
As we had expected, prosecutors accepted our lawyer’s arguments and forgave the hapless benefits recipient, who got off with nothing more than a scare.
Conclusion
This example once again confirms that a way out can be found in almost any situation. Our firm’s lawyer added another successful case to his record, and — more importantly — spared someone’s future from being derailed by carelessness. We encourage our clients to always “play by the rules” of the country they live in and never ignore its legally established procedures. And if you have any doubts about how a particular provision of German law applies to you, or find yourself needing legal support in a difficult situation, we are always here at our law firm.
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