Frequently asked questions

No. In the first consultation you do not hire us for anything. A formal engagement only exists once we both confirm it in writing.

You describe your situation and learn which deadlines are running and what needs to be settled first. Afterwards you go home and think it over.

Yes. The consultation sets nothing in motion, and your spouse will not hear about it: we are bound to confidentiality from the first sentence. You learn what a separation would mean for maintenance, your home and your assets, and then decide in your own time.

“I will wait for now” is a result too. We advise on the law, not on the relationship; couples and family counseling is there for that.

If you are still undecided

At most €226.10, which is €190 plus VAT, § 34 (1) sentence 3 RVG. If we then take on your case, this fee does not apply.

If you cannot afford the costs, there is Beratungshilfe (legal advice aid) for the consultation and Verfahrenskostenhilfe (legal aid) for the proceedings. Mention it in your request and we will check it at the same time.

Your marriage certificate, the children’s birth certificates, the last three pay stubs from both sides, pension statements, and a marital agreement if there is one.

Come even if something is missing. Being complete is not a condition for seeing us, and we finish the intake form together.

Go to the intake form

Yes, 60 minutes, just as at our office. All you need is a room where you can talk undisturbed.

With lawyer Mieke Karcher or with lawyer Dietrich Karcher, the owner of the practice. Mieke Karcher handles divorce, maintenance and questions about the children, Dietrich Karcher assets and property.

Who advises you

Maintenance, if you depend on it. It is only owed from the day you demanded it in writing or asked for information about the other side’s income, § 1613 BGB.

Then joint accounts, powers of attorney and who stays in the home for now. Write down the date of separation. It starts the Trennungsjahr (year of separation), and either side can demand information about the other’s assets as of that day, § 1379 BGB.

What applies right after separating

At first, both of you, regardless of who owns the home or whose name is on the lease. The court assigns it to one side alone if living together would be an undue hardship, for example because of violence or to protect the children, § 1361b BGB.

If you move out voluntarily and do not seriously announce a return within six months, you have left the home to the other side. Moving out does not change ownership, and the side that left can claim compensation for the use.

Marital home, property and household

If you are in immediate danger, call 110. The German Violence against Women Support Hotline is free and available around the clock at 116 016.

The court can assign the home to you alone within days. In such cases a divorce is also possible before the Trennungsjahr (year of separation) is over, § 1565 (2) BGB. You do not need a lawyer to apply for an interim order.

Not for the divorce. German law has not had fault-based divorce since 1977; it only asks whether the marriage has broken down.

For maintenance, conduct only counts in the exceptions of § 1579 BGB, for example serious misconduct or when the side entitled to maintenance lives in a settled relationship with someone new.

As a rule, yes; separation changes nothing about inheritance law. The right ends when the divorce becomes final. It falls away earlier if the deceased had filed for divorce or consented to it and the conditions for divorce were met, § 1933 BGB.

Revoke health care and bank powers of attorney early, and change the beneficiary of your life insurance. Both otherwise stay in force, even after the divorce. A new will belongs in separate advice on inheritance law.

Inheritance law in separation and divorce

In the year of separation you can still file jointly if you lived together for at least one day that year. From the following 1 January, tax class I applies, or II with a child in your household.

The new net income shifts every maintenance calculation built on it. Spousal maintenance you pay can be deducted through Realsplitting (tax splitting of maintenance) if the other side consents.

Taxes after the separation

Yes. Your married name stays, and the other side cannot forbid you to use it, § 1355 (5) BGB. If you want to change it, a declaration at the registry office is enough, and there is no deadline.

You can choose your birth name, the name you had before the marriage, or a combination with the married name. Your children’s name does not change automatically.

Your name after the divorce

It can settle the consequences more cheaply and more lastingly if both of you want to negotiate. The mediator decides nothing and owes the same duty to both sides, so they cannot tell you whether a proposal is good for you.

Secure the date for maintenance first. You both pay for the mediation yourselves; Verfahrenskostenhilfe (legal aid) does not cover it. Whatever you agree on the Zugewinnausgleich (accrued gains) or the Versorgungsausgleich (pension rights adjustment) still needs a notary afterwards.

Mediation in separation and divorce

As a rule, yes, before the petition stands a chance. Living apart means you no longer run a joint household. That is possible in the same home.

You can see a lawyer before that. The first year is when claims arise that cannot be made up for later.

When the year of separation begins

At least one side needs a lawyer for the petition. If the other side only consents, it can do without one. That is the least expensive route.

We may not represent both sides, not even if you agree on everything. The professional rules for lawyers forbid it.

From petition to decree, usually several months. The Versorgungsausgleich (pension rights adjustment) takes longest, because the court has to write to every pension provider and wait for an answer.

You can speed up only one thing: how complete your documents are.

The process step by step

Yes, both spouses have to attend the divorce hearing, even if only one side has a lawyer. The hearing is usually short. The judge asks about the year of separation and whether you want the divorce.

Everything except the court hearing. Power of attorney, documents and information go by email or post, the consultation by video. You attend the hearing in person, § 128 FamFG.

That makes the process more convenient, not faster. It suits you if you largely agree on the consequences. If you are in dispute over maintenance, assets or the children, a meeting at our office is usually the better choice.

Online divorce

Not automatically the one in Frankfurt. The competent court follows from the order set out in § 122 FamFG, depending on the case where the children live, where you last lived together or where the other side lives. For Offenbach, Bad Homburg, Hanau or Königstein, the local courts there are competent.

We represent you before each of these courts, across the Rhine-Main region.

A divorce cannot be prevented permanently. Without consent it becomes harder and takes longer; after three years of separation, the breakdown of the marriage is established even without consent.

If the address is unknown, the court can serve by public notice. That takes months, but it works.

Because there is none. Lawyer fees and court costs in family law depend on the value of the matter, which follows from income, assets and pension rights.

We bill under FamGKG and RVG; there is no hourly rate. As soon as we know your figures, we tell you the range.

Go to the cost calculator

In the end, usually each side pays half the court costs and its own lawyer, § 150 FamFG. Whoever files the petition advances the court fee first and can later claim half of it from the other side.

If the other side only consents, it needs no lawyer of its own and pays only half the court costs. How you split the cost of our representation between you is up to you.

Who pays what

Then Verfahrenskostenhilfe (legal aid) may be an option. The state advances the costs or waives them. This is an entitlement, not charity.

You need proof of income, your lease, bank statements and proof of debts. Bring what you have.

No. We bill under the statutory fee schedule and have no hourly rate. How often and how long we talk does not change the invoice.

For the divorce proceedings, as a rule, no. Many policies cover only advice in family law, such as the first consultation.

Ask your insurer before the appointment whether it will cover the advice, and bring the confirmation with you.

As a rule, no. Since 2013, § 33 (2) sentence 4 EStG has ruled this out, and the Federal Fiscal Court confirmed it in 2017.

Spousal maintenance, by contrast, can be deducted through Realsplitting (tax splitting of maintenance) if the other side consents.

As a rule, yes. Joint Sorgerecht (custody) ends neither with the separation nor with the divorce, and no one has to apply for anything. One side only gets sole Sorgerecht (custody) on application, if that is what best serves the child’s welfare, § 1671 BGB.

The parent the child lives with handles everyday matters. You continue to decide together on where the child lives, schooling or an operation, § 1687 BGB.

Arranging custody and contact

The amount follows the Düsseldorfer Tabelle (Düsseldorf table): the adjusted net income of the paying parent and the child’s age. For a minor child, half of the child benefit is deducted.

The table is updated every year on 1 January. The youth welfare office issues an enforceable title for child maintenance free of charge.

Go to the child support calculator

If the child lives with each of you about half the time, both parents pay cash maintenance, each according to their income. The simple split, where one parent provides care and the other pays, then no longer applies.

The court can order a Wechselmodell (shared care model) even against one parent’s will. It does, however, need short distances and parents who can talk to each other.

The shared care model in Frankfurt

Not always on your own. With joint Sorgerecht (custody), a trip abroad can be one of the decisions parents make together, §§ 1627, 1687 BGB. Many countries also require written travel consent from the other parent, some of them certified.

Settle the consent before you book. If the other parent refuses, the Familiengericht (family court) can transfer the decision to one of you, § 1628 BGB.

Traveling with children

Not for the divorce itself. Only if there is a dispute about parental responsibility or contact does the court hear the children itself, depending on their age, and it often appoints a guardian ad litem.

That is one of the reasons we try to reach an agreement first.

Yes, if the dispute is part of your separation and divorce. We do not conduct proceedings that concern only Sorgerecht (custody) or contact without a link to a divorce.

Maintenance during separation is not paid retroactively, only from the time you demanded it. Waiting costs you months.

If you do not have enough money to live on, this is where acting quickly really pays off.

Separation maintenance, amount and start

Roughly half the difference between your two adjusted net incomes. Child maintenance comes off first, and one tenth is deducted from earned income, the Erwerbstätigenbonus (earner’s bonus) under the guidelines of the Higher Regional Court of Frankfurt.

The paying side keeps a Selbstbehalt (retained amount). If you work yourself, you often still have a claim, just a smaller one.

Go to the spousal maintenance calculator

Only on a statutory ground, such as caring for a child, age or illness. After the divorce, each side is in principle responsible for their own support, § 1569 BGB.

Separation maintenance does not turn into this claim by itself. How long and how much is paid depends above all on whether the marriage left one side with a career disadvantage, § 1578b BGB. The claim ends if the recipient remarries.

When post-marital maintenance ends

For the time after the divorce, yes, but before the divorce is final only before a notary or on the court record, § 1585c BGB. No one can waive future separation maintenance or child maintenance, § 1614 BGB.

For separation maintenance you are free to agree on the amount and how it is paid, ideally in writing.

Divorce settlement agreement

Without a marital agreement, the gains during the marriage are compared: what each side had at the wedding and what is there today. Whoever gained more pays out half of the difference.

Inheritances and gifts are left out. The Zugewinnausgleich (accrued gains) does not happen automatically; it has to be claimed.

Go to the accrued gains calculator

The land register shows who owns it, and the divorce does not change that. If you own it together, one side buys out the other’s share or you sell together. The last and usually most expensive route is a Teilungsversteigerung (partition sale), § 180 ZVG.

The Zugewinnausgleich (accrued gains) evens out the increase in value during the marriage. If you move out, a sale within ten years of the purchase can become taxable, § 23 EStG.

Property on separation

Only with the bank’s consent. Whoever signed stays liable to the bank for the full amount, even after the divorce. There is no right to be released.

Between the two of you, each usually bears half of the installments from the separation onward, § 426 BGB. Refinancing, early repayment or a sale end the liability. An indemnity from the other side only works between the two of you; it does not bind the bank.

Debts in the divorce

Yes, each entitlement from the marriage is split in half. The court carries out the Versorgungsausgleich (pension rights adjustment) of its own accord; for a marriage of up to three years, only on application, § 3 (3) VersAusglG.

As a rule, the other side receives an entitlement of its own with the same provider. No money changes hands between you.

Pension rights adjustment

By agreement, yes, recorded by a notary or on the court record, §§ 6 to 8 VersAusglG. The court checks whether it puts one side at an unreasonable disadvantage.

Without an agreement, the court can leave the Versorgungsausgleich (pension rights adjustment) out in whole or in part for small values or gross unfairness, §§ 18 and 27 VersAusglG.

When the pension adjustment falls away

Yes. Without notarial recording it is void, § 1410 BGB, and this cannot be cured later. A certified signature or witnesses are not enough.

We advise you, draft the agreement and accompany you to the notary. The notary performs the recording itself.

A marital agreement without a notary

Yes, before the wedding or at any time during the marriage, § 1408 BGB. An agreement that only appears days before the wedding is the one least likely to survive review by the court.

Plan for months of lead time. If the separation is already certain, a Scheidungsfolgenvereinbarung (divorce settlement agreement) settles the same questions.

Marital agreement

The notary fee is set by law and the same at every notary. It depends on the assets of both spouses: for €100,000 it is €546 plus VAT and expenses.

Our fee for advice and drafting comes on top. It depends on the work involved; we settle your specific fee in the first consultation.

What a marital agreement costs

In principle, yes. The court reviews it in two stages, though: whether it burdened one side unfairly when it was signed, and whether relying on it today is still in good faith, §§ 138 and 242 BGB.

Agreements that cut off child maintenance or maintenance for childcare entirely rarely hold. We review existing agreements, including ones from abroad.

When a marital agreement is invalid

As a rule, yes, if you live in Germany. Where you married plays no role for jurisdiction; what counts above all is habitual residence, Art. 3 Brussels IIb.

Bring your marriage certificate. Whether it needs an Apostille and a certified translation depends on the country, and both can take weeks.

Divorce after marrying abroad

Without a choice of law, usually the law of the country where you both habitually live, Art. 8 Rome III. If you both live in Germany, German divorce law applies, including the Trennungsjahr (year of separation).

You can choose the applicable law, in Germany before a notary or on the court record during proceedings. Assets, maintenance and children each follow their own rules.

Which law applies to the divorce

Often, yes. If you yourself have lived in Germany for a year, a German court has jurisdiction; with German citizenship, after six months, Art. 3 Brussels IIb.

Because of service abroad, expect about half a year longer. Within the EU, the side that files first determines the court, Art. 20 Brussels IIb.

Which country to file in

A divorce from another EU country is valid without a separate procedure, except one from Denmark. Other foreign divorces are recognized by the state justice administration, in Hesse by the Higher Regional Court of Frankfurt, § 107 FamFG.

If both spouses are nationals of the country that granted the divorce, no recognition procedure is needed. A Versorgungsausgleich (pension rights adjustment) that did not take place there can often be caught up in Germany.

International family law

No, family law only. If your case is essentially about criminal, inheritance, employment or landlord and tenant law, we say so right away.

No. Any law firm admitted in Germany may represent you before every Familiengericht (family court). Which court is competent follows from where you live.

We also advise you by video and by phone. You travel to the court for the hearing on a single day.

If your lawyer is in another city

Yes. We forward mail from the court to you, with a sentence on what it means and whether you need to do anything.

You can, but unencrypted email is like a postcard. Only write what a third party could read; we discuss everything else by phone or at our office.

If a deadline runs in days, call instead of writing. An email can sit unread, a phone call cannot.

We advise in German and English, and in Spanish with lawyer Dietrich Karcher. This site is available in all three languages. An interpreter may be needed for court hearings, because the court conducts proceedings in German.

Then you are under no obligation. We also say so ourselves if we notice that we could not handle your case the way it would need.

If the other side is already our client, we may not represent you. We check this before the appointment and tell you right away.