Vermögen: Risiko Pflegeheim – wann Sie für Ihre Eltern zahlen müssen

In the future, care homes will pose an even greater financial burden for senior citizens and their families. As of July 2026, the share of expenses borne by families in Germany averaged 3364 euros monthly. The CDU's economic council is demanding an increase in this responsibility as part of the care reform. In 2023, one-third to half of care home residents in NRW received "care support" from the welfare office due to insufficient personal funds.

Welfare payments in this area continue to rise. Authorities are now seeking to involve the children of those in need of care. Families should familiarize themselves with the current rules, as authorities are taking proactive steps. Sometimes, social services directly contact children and inquire about their financial circumstances without meeting the prerequisites for a request for information, according to Thomas Franz, a social law specialist at the Plagemann law firm.

Additionally, a recent Federal Financial Court judgment further limits the social services' ability to recover gifts. When a person's assets reach 10,000 euros ("already wealth"), and no spouse is available to support them, children may become legally obligated to support their parents. Factors beyond their income and assets, such as previous gifts given by parents, play a role.

Gifts made by parents, which are then squandered by their children, can be recovered under § 528 of the German Civil Code within a ten-year period. However, unlike the duty to supplement inheritance in inheritance law, the recovery claim does not diminish over time once the beneficiary has spent it. The recovery claim can be asserted within three years of the person falling into poverty.

This deadline applies to gifts in the form of money, securities, or other assets. Real estate, however, falls under a separate ten-year statute of limitations. While trying to avoid losing the gift, children may not succeed. Helping with everyday living costs exhausts the value of the gift, but only in monetary form. Selling the gifted property to relatives, such as children, does not exempt the children from the recovery claim.

However, the recovery claim must be met in monetary terms. If an individual received property as a gift, they must repay the value of the property using their own income or savings, or mortgage the property if necessary. Social services require information about gifts made in the past ten years when a person applies for assistance.

If the person is unable to provide details or is mentally impaired, friends or caregivers can assist. The social services require sufficient evidence of exceeding the 100,000-euro threshold to request information from the children. This evidence could be provided through the information on the application form or publicly available social media posts.

However, social services sometimes ask questions beyond the scope of the application. In such cases, relatives or caregivers can help the elderly or mentally impaired person complete the necessary forms.