Can we ask our daughter’s boyfriend to support her financially?

If her boyfriend is the father of the child, he will have a maintenance obligation towards [the child]. This is his legal duty until the child is capable of supporting itself. Each of the parents will contribute to the maintenance according to their financial possibilities.

In relation to your daughter, we draw attention to Section 74 of the Family Act regulating the contribution to the maintenance and reimbursement of certain costs of an unmarried mother: “The father of a child, to whom the mother of the child is not married, is obliged, for a maximum of two years, starting at the latest from the day of delivery, to contribute appropriately to the mother for the reimbursement of her maintenance and to provide her with a contribution for the reimbursement of costs associated with pregnancy and delivery. Upon the motion of a pregnant woman, the court may order a man whose paternity is probable to provide in advance the amount necessary to ensure her maintenance according to paragraph 1, a contribution for the reimbursement of costs associated with pregnancy and delivery, and the amount necessary to ensure the maintenance of the child for the period during which the woman would be entitled to maternity leave according to a special regulation. The right to request a contribution for the reimbursement of costs associated with pregnancy and delivery according to paragraph 1 shall be barred by the statute of limitations upon the expiration of three years from the day of delivery.”

At the same time, however, we point out the fact that as a parent, your maintenance obligation toward your daughter does not expire automatically in such a situation. According to the Family Act, a parent has a maintenance obligation for a child who is not capable of procuring the necessary means for a livelihood. Since your daughter is studying in a full-time form of study at a university, we can classify her as a dependent child.

According to the decision-making practice of the courts, such as judgment R 1/1967 in a similar case: “The fact that the mother is a minor and is preparing for her future profession through study—meaning her parents have a maintenance obligation toward her (Section 85, Para. 1 FA; now Section 62, Para. 1 – author’s note)—is not sufficient in itself to exempt the defendant from the obligation imposed on him as the father of the child by Section 95, Para. 1 FA (now Section 74, Para. 1 – author’s note). On the other hand, however, it also does not mean that for the period determined in this provision, the maintenance obligation of the minor mother’s parents passes to the father of the child. In such a case, therefore, the parents’ maintenance obligation toward the daughter continues according to Section 85, Para. 1 FA (now Section 62, Para. 1 – author’s note); however, there is also (specifically with regard to the specific circumstances caused by the pregnancy and delivery of the minor mother) an obligation of the father of the born child to contribute appropriately to the reimbursement of the maintenance of the child’s mother, as well as to contribute appropriately to the reimbursement of costs associated with pregnancy and delivery. The Family Act protects a mother who is not married to the child’s father by requiring the child’s father to contribute appropriately to her maintenance, as well as to the reimbursement of costs associated with pregnancy and delivery, at a time when the mother is generally completely or partially excluded from work activity (study). Study understood as preparation for a future profession does not exclude the application of Section 95 FA (now Section 74 – author’s note). The appropriateness of the contribution must be assessed according to Section 96 FA (now Section 75, Para. 1 – author’s note) (i.e., both in relation to the abilities and possibilities of the defendant and in relation to the justified needs and circumstances of the mother), thus also with regard to whether and how her needs were taken care of by the parents in the fulfillment of their maintenance obligation during the stated time.”