Bonus payments and maintenance: how variable pay counts

Does a bonus count for maintenance?

Yes. For maintenance purposes, income covers all earnings, including bonuses, profit-related pay and special payments. Payments that are not made every month are spread over one year Frankfurt maintenance guidelines 2026, no. 1.2.

So a net bonus of €24,000 adds €2,000 a month to the income in the maintenance calculation. What counts is the amount after tax and social security contributions.

Which bonus counts if it is different every year?

As a rule, the income of the last year counts. If bonuses fluctuate widely, courts usually take an average of the last three years. For the self-employed, this is the standard approach anyway, based on a recent three-year period Frankfurt maintenance guidelines 2026, no. 1.5. Where it is foreseeable that a bonus will stop in the future, that is taken into account as well.

If the bonus later turns out much lower or is not paid at all, the maintenance that has been set can be adjusted once circumstances have changed substantially § 238 FamFG. The same applies in reverse.

What disclosure about the bonus covers

If you claim maintenance, you can require the other side to disclose their income § 1605 (1) BGB, for spouses with § 1361 (4) and § 1580 BGB. On request, they must provide documents, in particular statements from their employer. For a bonus, these include:

• the payslips for the last twelve months, including the one showing the bonus payment,
• the bonus letters of recent years,
• the compensation plan or target agreement that sets out the amount and the payout,
• the most recent income tax assessment (Einkommensteuerbescheid).

Deferred bonuses at banks

Banks often pay out part of a bonus only years later. For material risk takers (Risikoträger) at significant institutions, deferral is mandatory: at least 40% of variable pay is held back for at least four years § 20 InstitutsVergV. For the management board and the level directly below it, the figure is at least 60% over at least five years. During this period, the bank can still reduce the deferred part, and in serious cases it can reclaim amounts already paid.

That is why such claims often do not count in the Zugewinnausgleich (equalization of accrued gains). According to the Federal Court of Justice, deferred portions of a bonus do not belong in the final assets if their payout still depends on future conduct BGH, decision of September 13, 2023, XII ZB 400/22. In the case decided, the bank was also entitled to cut the bonus pool. The decision concerned a bank employee whose long-term incentive was paid out only in the fourth year after the fiscal year in question.

For maintenance, the deferred portions count as soon as they are paid out. So what does not count in the equalization on the cut-off date can still affect maintenance later, as long as there is a maintenance claim.

When part of the bonus is paid in shares, the equalization raises questions of its own. They are answered in Shares, portfolios and employee stock in the equalization.

The employment bonus is something else

The employment bonus (Erwerbstätigenbonus) in maintenance law has nothing to do with a bonus from the bank. It is a deduction of one tenth of earned income before maintenance is calculated using the percentage method Frankfurt maintenance guidelines 2026, no. 15.2. The deduction is meant to offset the extra effort that working involves.

When base salary and bonus together are very high

With a very high base salary and bonus, the percentage method stops applying at some point, and the need has to be documented in detail. Where that limit lies is described in Maintenance on a high income: where the percentage method ends.

The next step

At our firm, attorney Mieke Karcher handles maintenance cases, and attorney Dietrich Karcher handles questions of the equalization. The first consultation costs up to €190 plus VAT, at most €226.10 in total. If we take on your case, this fee does not apply. How further fees are calculated is set out under Costs. Our spousal maintenance calculator gives you a first figure. For how maintenance is calculated during the separation, see Separation maintenance: who gets how much, and from when?