Family allowance is finally coming

After the death of my partner in September, the two of us stayed with his son, but it turned out that we did not receive any kind of family support in the short six months so far.

After mom left, we had to claim everything again

I applied for the family allowance online on the first of October, many people said that it takes 6 weeks, after which it will be paid. Barely eight weeks had passed when I called them on the phone in December and asked why they hadn't responded to our request yet.

The online application has not been received

Yes, that's exactly what the clerk said:

We have not received any requests on your behalf. Please apply again!

I didn't think long, that very afternoon I got into the car and went to the relevant office: Familienkasse Villingen-Schwenningen, where the nice little clerk filed my application, originally submitted in October, in about 10 minutes.

Malteser helped

Another 2 months passed, when I was already a little frustrated because, despite having requested almost everything that is theoretically possible, we didn't even get an answer about anything. I contacted my contact at Malteser - the German equivalent of the Maltese Charity Service - to find out what the situation was and, lo and behold, a letter arrived today saying that I will receive the family allowance retroactively until November.

Family allowance is not a big deal

In Hungary, I would probably say the same myself, but the situation is that compared to 12,600 forints in Hungary, the monthly amount here is 250 euros, i.e. 100,000 forints, which is still not enough to raise a child, but it is a very good start.

How can it get any better than that?

We look to the future with great hope, the semi-orphan's pension should also arrive slowly, which is almost the same amount, after which our situation will be much better. We don't have much reason to complain now, because our situation is still much better than in Hungary.