Family law regulates the legal relationships of persons connected by marriage, family and kinship. We will be happy to help you with all questions concerning, for example, the drafting of a marriage contract. If you are undecided whether the matrimonial property regime of community of gains should be maintained or the separation of property or community of property should be agreed upon, we are your contact. We are also happy to support and advise you out of court during the separation and in the run-up to a divorce.
Since a divorce by mutual consent offers the possibility of ending a marriage with dignity and decency, we always try to work towards a divorce by mutual consent first. However, if an agreement cannot be reached, we will of course continue the proceedings by litigation.
Therefore, we also advise and represent you in court disputes in all areas to be settled, such as separation and divorce, alimony, parental custody and contact, equalization of gains, pension equalization and challenges to paternity. Family law has many connections to other areas of law, such as inheritance law. Due to the versatile orientation of our law firm, we are able to provide you with competent advice in these areas as well.
Parental custody regulates who may determine the child’s place of residence and all matters concerning the child. The separation or divorce itself does not change the basic joint parental care. However, on application, custody may be transferred in whole or in part to one parent.
The right of access serves to maintain and deepen the family relationship and is intended to prevent any alienation that might otherwise occur. It is also intended to promote the emotional development of the child. Both in the case of parental care and in the case of access rights, the well-being of the child is always the central point. Therefore, we always ask you to find the best solution for your child and you together.
Separation and divorce also include the complex of questions as to who can claim regular alimony from whom and how much this should be. First of all, it has to be clarified whether there is a claim for alimony at all. The maintenance claims include child maintenance, maintenance in the event of separation (separation maintenance) and divorce maintenance. Calculating alimony without expert guidance is practically impossible.
We advise and represent you if you wish to agree on or assert maintenance claims or defend yourself against maintenance claims. We are also happy to simply calculate your maintenance claim so that you can use this calculation to reach an agreement with your partner who is separated or divorced.
The community of accrued gains is the legal matrimonial property regime. This means that every married couple who has not concluded a marriage contract lives under the community of accrued gains. Under the community of accrued gains, both the assets of the spouses existing at the time of marriage and those acquired during the marriage remain separate. The gain achieved by one of the spouses in the course of the marriage, the so-called Zugewinn, is settled, for example, upon the death of one of the spouses or upon divorce by way of Zugewinnausgleich (equalization of gains). Our advice consists, among other things, of determining whether you have a claim to equalization of gains and how you can pursue and enforce this claim.
By concluding a prenuptial agreement, the spouses can regulate at any time, i.e. before marriage or during the marriage, in which matrimonial property regime they wish to live. It is also up to the spouses to cancel or amend the prenuptial agreement once it has been concluded by means of a further agreement.
The marriage contract must be drawn up in notarized form. The declarations of both spouses must be made in the simultaneous presence of a notary for recording (“notarization”).
The prenuptial agreement is also becoming increasingly important in practice for issues that go beyond the regulation of the matrimonial property regime. In many cases, agreements are also made in the event of a divorce, in particular with regard to post-marital maintenance or pension equalization.
When the marital property regime ends, e.g. through death or divorce, the marital gain achieved during the marriage is equalized. Marital gains are defined as the amount by which the assets of one spouse at the end of the matrimonial property regime (“final assets”) exceed their assets at the beginning of the matrimonial property regime (“initial assets”). In order to be able to balance out the accrued gains, each spouse’s accrued gains during the marriage must first be determined and calculated. If one spouse has achieved a higher gain than the other, the other spouse is entitled to half of the surplus as a claim for compensation.
The separation of property is normally established by the spouses expressly agreeing to it in a prenuptial agreement that requires a formal form. However, separation of property also occurs if the spouses exclude community of gains, equalization of gains or pension rights by means of a marriage contract or if the spouses terminate a previously agreed community of property without determining a new property regime. In the case of separation of property, the spouses’ assets are completely separate. Thus, there is no relationship under property law. Each spouse manages his or her own assets. In the event of divorce, there is no equalization of gains.
Community of property can only be established by a marriage contract. In the case of community of property, all the existing assets of both spouses are combined into a single total asset (“total assets”) upon conclusion of the marriage contract. Exceptions to this are the reserved property and the special property, which are not included in the total property.
Reserved property is everything that is declared to be reserved property by the spouses in the marriage contract, for example. Special property includes, for example, non-transferable company shares or personal rights. The prenuptial agreement should stipulate whether the joint property is to be managed jointly by one particular spouse or both. At the end of the community of property, the joint property is divided, i.e. the joint property liabilities must first be adjusted. Subsequently, the remaining surplus is divided in half.
You want to marry or have already married and are an entrepreneur? You have thought about or read about a prenuptial agreement? You are in the middle of divorce proceedings and are considering concluding a divorce settlement agreement to settle things amicably? Do you want to review your existing prenuptial agreement to make sure it is effective?
In many marriages it makes sense to conclude a prenuptial agreement in order to adapt the legal circumstances to the personal circumstances of the spouses. This is advisable, for example, if there are larger assets or a higher amount of debts. Even if one of the spouses runs a business, has a share in a business or wants to start a business, we recommend thinking about a prenuptial agreement.
In a prenuptial agreement, a large number of regulations can be recorded, which can also deviate from legal regulations, which is why a notary must be consulted in order to draw up a legally effective prenuptial agreement. However, since the legal regulations and the underlying facts change, a notarized prenuptial agreement is not yet a certainty that the regulations are effective, since a prenuptial agreement is subject to the so-called effectiveness and exercise control. Thus, cases are not uncommon in which an initially effective prenuptial agreement subsequently becomes invalid due to immorality. When drawing up a prenuptial agreement, it is therefore advisable to consult a competent lawyer in order to protect your own interests. Divorce statistics as well as years of experience show that it is not advisable to rush into marriage blindly and without safeguards.
Even if divorce proceedings have already been initiated, it is not too late to settle family law issues amicably by means of a divorce settlement agreement.
Due to old-age poverty, increasing life expectancy and low pension entitlements in Germany, the number of cases in which parental maintenance is owed by the children is increasing. This is the not entirely uncommon case where it is not children who demand maintenance from their parents, but the other way around. It is not uncommon for existing pension and long-term care insurance policies to be more than sufficient to pay for the costs of elderly people, especially those in need of care and nursing home stays. This leads to the fact that the own children are asked “to the cash”. If the social welfare office or other institutions step in with benefits to secure the livelihood, the parents’ claim to maintenance is transferred to the respective institution (the authority). This usually does not hesitate for long and tries to get the paid amount back from the children. This leads to existential fears, since one fears having to reduce one’s own standard of living or even having to “sell one’s own house”. In this case, it makes sense to counteract the claim at an early stage and, with the help of a lawyer, either ward off the claim completely or reduce it to the lowest possible level.
Mediation is an extrajudicial, non-public procedure with its own principles for settling all kinds of conflicts. With the assistance of the mediator, the parties to a dispute or litigation seek their own mutually agreeable arrangements that serve their needs and interests.
Mediation means conciliation, the mediator is an intermediary. He gives the parties the opportunity to get back to each other and to negotiate.
The goal of mediation is to reach a binding agreement that points to the future and to which the mediators want to adhere. Such an agreement is often more comprehensible to the parties than the result of a court dispute, because it was worked out by the parties themselves.
Mediation has numerous advantages in conflict situations. It is universally applicable. Various methods can be used to solve a wide range of problems in the economic sphere, e.g. conflicts between
Employers and employees
Superiors and employees
Management and works/staff council
Partners / shareholders / owners
Family members to regulate the succession of the company
Departments / work units
Companies due to mergers, takeovers, restructurings
business partners
Manufacturers and consumers
Craftsmen and customers
Clients and contractors
and in the private sector, e.g. conflicts between
Spouses, also in case of separation and (after) divorce
The generations, e.g. between grandparents, parents and children
Parties involved in an accident
Tenants and landlords
Testators and heirs or heirs among each other neighbors
Victims and perpetrators of a crime
can be handled and brought to a satisfactory solution.
You want to get divorced or have been served with a divorce petition? You are considering whether to separate from your wife / husband and are looking for information about the consequences of separation and divorce?
Statistics speak for themselves: almost every second marriage in Germany ends in divorce. Even if the desire for divorce is currently turning your life upside down, you are not alone! In our divorce law firm we will do everything in our power to successfully enforce your rights! In principle, a separation/divorce entails a multitude of consequences (alimony, equalization of pensions, marital home, gain, etc.), which are almost unmanageable for the person concerned. Therefore, it is important to consult an expert right at the beginning, who will help you through the thicket of divorce law and show you the best way to proceed and file a divorce petition for you or defend against one.
Through years of experience and through numerous divorces that have already taken place, we guarantee the best possible advice and representation for you. Since a divorce can be very expensive, we also advise you on how best to behave in conflict situations in order to avoid high additional costs and not to drag out the divorce unnecessarily.
You are living in separation and do not get any money from your spouse? You are considering whether to separate from your spouse and are looking for information about the alimony you are entitled to? You take care of the common child, but you do not get any financial support from the other side?
In most cases, a separation or divorce goes hand in hand with a significant loss of income. The previous joint family income is lost and you are left to fend for yourself. Questions arise about your own security or about who has to pay what, when and to whom.
We will be happy to advise you on all questions of separation maintenance or post-marital spousal maintenance. It is not uncommon for you to be entitled to considerably more than the other party is offering or paying you.
We also advise and represent you in defending yourself against claims for alimony that are directed at you. This may be a claim directed at you by the other spouse or an asserted claim for child support.
If you have one or more children in common, we will calculate the child support for you and, if necessary, enforce it in court. It often turns out that the alimony paid to you – if any – is clearly too low.
Spouses who are already separated or in divorce proceedings are aware that “pensions” are also equalized or are familiar with the term “Versorgungsausgleich” (equalization of pensions), but what exactly this means is unclear. Many people are not even aware that claims still exist after the divorce (“pension equalization under the law of obligations”) and that it is not uncommon to be entitled to a higher pension. This is due to the fact that not all rights were settled at the time of the divorce (e.g. because they were not ready for settlement due to a lack of a waiting period) or the conditions and, in particular, the amount of the entitlements have changed. In most cases, this is due to “occupational rights” or rights related to final salary which make an adjustment necessary. Especially in the context of the external division of entitlements in the pension equalization there are many pitfalls and stumbling blocks, which later unnecessarily cost you money in the long run, because you receive a lower benefit. Therefore, if you are in the process of a divorce or are already divorced and a pension equalization has taken place, it is advisable to check whether and when you may be entitled to further rights. After the divorce has been finalized, people often “forget” that they still have rights, especially when they reach retirement age themselves. If a direct commitment, direct insurance, claims from a support fund, pension fund or pension fund exist, it is advisable to calculate one’s claim correctly and to ensure that this does not “disappear” in the context of the divorce.
Appointment representation
You are a representative of a law firm or active as a lawyer yourself and cannot attend a court date in the Stuttgart area? We are happy to represent your clients in court.
