Some alimony payers go to endless lengths to pay less alimony by disguising income o.a. In some cases, all these efforts would not even be necessary if only the available options had been consistently exploited.
Therefore, below we present the most important tips and tricks on how to achieve lower alimony obligations in a completely legal way.
- Maintenance and car costs
- Maintenance and liabilities
- Maintenance and capital formation expenses
- Maintenance and expenses for term life insurance
- Child support and covered housing needs
- Disability Insurance
- Per diem health insurance
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Maintenance and car expenses
It was already possible to pass on car costs to the maintenance beneficiaries. The prerequisite was and is that it was unreasonable for the obligor of alimony to use public transportation such as buses and trains due to the distance between the place of employment and the home or poor transportation connections. Experience shows that the courts are generous in taking into account the costs of the car, especially if the person obliged to pay maintenance has already driven to work by car during the marriage.
The guidelines of the higher regional courts usually take into account the travel costs with 0.30 € per kilometer driven to reduce income. Mileage amounts may be reduced for longer distances.
Courts usually recognize 220 working days per year. With a simple distance between home and work of 15 km, z. B. a maintenance debtor living in NRW could reduce his monthly net income by EUR 165 per month (220 working days x 15 km x 2 x EUR 0.30 / 12 months). Accordingly, maintenance mitigates. Assuming he had a monthly income of 1.800,- EUR net, it would be only 90 EUR per month if the lump sum for work-related expenses is claimed. Assuming further that he is dependent on two children and a non-working wife, it is reasonable to assume that claiming car expenses will give him an extra 75 EUR per month because he will have to pay correspondingly less alimony.
Maintenance and liabilities
Debts worthy of consideration are to be deducted from the net income. This reduces the maintenance to be paid. Generally, debts are eligible for consideration if they were incurred during or before marital cohabitation by one spouse alone or by both spouses jointly, as long as they are paid off in reasonable installments under a reasonable repayment plan. The intended purpose of the credit is thereby in principle unimportant.
This advance deduction applies not only to spousal maintenance, but also to the determination of the maintenance needs of minor children or children of equal status, since the loan installments used to pay off debts would not have been available for maintenance purposes even if the family had continued to exist.
Alimony and capital formation expenses
Expenses for additional old-age provision can be claimed as income-reducing in the case of spousal maintenance in the amount of up to 4% of gross income (BGH – 11.05.2005 – XII ZR 211/02). This also applies to child support if at least the minimum support is guaranteed. With the parents maintenance even 5% for the additional age precaution can be spent (BGH – 14.01.2004 – Ref: XII ZR 149/01). The manner in which the supplemental retirement plan is operated is optional (z.B. Financing of an owner-occupied property, Riester pension, direct insurance, savings plan, fund savings, endowment life insurance, etc.).
If you have income above the contribution limit to the public pension plan, an additional 18.6% can be deducted from your income for additional retirement savings.
Maintenance and expenses for term life insurance
The cost of term life insurance can be deducted when determining dependent income. Purchase and continuation of these types of insurance policies ensure child support in the event of the obligor's death. (OLG Munich – 14.01.2002 – Ref: 26 UF 1456/01; s.a. OLG Hamm – 24.01.2008 – Ref: 2 UF 166/07)
Child support and covered housing needs
If the children entitled to maintenance live in a home of their own, for which the person liable to pay maintenance bears all costs, the maintenance of the children resulting from the Dusseldorfer (Berlin) table can be reduced appropriately, since the housing needs of the children are covered to this extent (BGH – 06.02.2002 – REF. NO.: XII ZR 20/00).
Although this has been adjudicated for a home or. a condominium, but this should also be valid if the obligor pays the rent for the apartment or house in which the dependents live (so also: OLG Schleswig-Holstein – 04.06.1999 – 8 WF 15/99).
Occupational disability insurance
The premiums for occupational disability insurance are deductible when determining the income relevant for maintenance (BGH – 27.05.2009 – XII ZR 111/08), since these serve the security of the income.
Daily sickness allowance insurance
The premiums for the daily sickness allowance insurance are deductible when determining the income for the maintenance calculation (BGH – 27.05.2009 – XII ZR 111/08).