Well yes,… but no, you can face significant financial burdens if someone in your family needs living assistance, such as a parent, and the state steps in to cover the costs. The law allows the state to require adult children to contribute to these expenses to a certain degree, but only after all assets of the elder or disabled person have been exhausted (“bankrupting” said person so to speak).
While this is not the same as bankrupting an entire family for life, it can indeed become a heavy financial strain if the parents were not adequately insured or financially prepared for such situations. The obligatio, however, is subject to strict thresholds and limits, such as exemptions for children earning below €100,000 annually, ensuring hardship is avoided.
Edit: “100.000k” sounds like much, but a German Dad providing for 2 kids and a stay at home wife would need this as a bare minimum to pay off the debt for the house 25km from the next medium city, in the next 20 years. No vacation outside Europe. Nothing fancy. If a parent then requires 1200€ per month, it’s a massive strain… so yeah, not bankrupting but painful.
Well yes,… but no, you can face significant financial burdens if someone in your family needs living assistance, such as a parent, and the state steps in to cover the costs. The law allows the state to require adult children to contribute to these expenses to a certain degree, but only after all assets of the elder or disabled person have been exhausted (“bankrupting” said person so to speak).
While this is not the same as bankrupting an entire family for life, it can indeed become a heavy financial strain if the parents were not adequately insured or financially prepared for such situations. The obligatio, however, is subject to strict thresholds and limits, such as exemptions for children earning below €100,000 annually, ensuring hardship is avoided.
Edit: “100.000k” sounds like much, but a German Dad providing for 2 kids and a stay at home wife would need this as a bare minimum to pay off the debt for the house 25km from the next medium city, in the next 20 years. No vacation outside Europe. Nothing fancy. If a parent then requires 1200€ per month, it’s a massive strain… so yeah, not bankrupting but painful.