On 1 August 2014, the 2007 Hague Maintenance Convention (hereinafter: the Convention) entered into force in the Member States of the European Union (with the exception of Denmark) with the aim of improving cooperation among Contracting States for the international recovery of child support and other forms of family maintenance. In order to ensure that maintenance entitlements can be asserted worldwide, the Convention creates a network of Central Authorities for each of the Contracting States to the Convention, similar to the way in which the EC Maintenance Regulation does this for the Member States of the European Union. In Germany, the role of Central Authority is assumed by the Federal Office of Justice (Bundesamt für Justiz) in Bonn. The Federal Office of Justice does not charge any fees for its services.
Due to the fact that the EC Maintenance Regulation takes precedence in cases involving European Union Member States, the Convention is of particular importance for cases involving non-EU states, for instance in relation to the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Norway and Turkey. The current list of Contracting States can be accessed on the homepage of the Hague Conference.
As is the case with the EC Maintenance Regulation, the Convention provides for the possibility of steps being taken before an actual application is made for cross-border recovery of maintenance (e.g. to locate the debtor, Article 7 of the Convention).
In terms of the steps involved in the procedure, a distinction is made between incoming and outgoing requests. Incoming requests are those which involve an applicant who has his/her habitual residence outside Germany and therefore the request is received from abroad, while in the case of outgoing requests the applicant has his/her habitual residence in the Federal Republic of Germany and his/her application is sent abroad.
Outgoing requests
Applicants who have their habitual residence in the Federal Republic of Germany can lodge their applications in accordance with Article 10 of the Convention by submitting a request to the Local Court with jurisdiction at the seat of the Higher Regional Court (Section 7 of the Foreign Maintenance Act). It is not possible for applications to be made directly to the Federal Office of Justice. Applicants should use the forms recommended and published by the Hague Conference on Private International Law, should enclose any documents and translations required, and submit four copies of the application to the court (Section 9 Subsection 3 Foreign Maintenance Act).
Translation costs
In principle, the costs of the translation of the request and of the documents enclosed therewith are to be paid by the applicant. On request, the Local Court with jurisdiction under Section 7 Subsection 1 of the Foreign Maintenance Act will exempt the applicant from the duty to reimburse the costs of the translation arranged by the Federal Office of Justice if the applicant fulfils the personal and financial requirements for receiving legal aid which does not need to be paid back, even in instalments, unless the recipient’s financial circumstances change (Section 10 Subsection 3 of the Foreign Maintenance Act).
Incoming requests
Persons entitled to maintenance whose habitual residence is in a Contracting State of the Convention can send an application pursuant to Article 10 of the Convention to the Federal Office of Justice via the competent Central Authority in their state of residence. If the request is complete, the Federal Office of Justice takes all appropriate steps to assert or enforce the maintenance claim. Before court proceedings are initiated, the Federal Office of Justice attempts to bring about maintenance payments on a voluntary basis.
In accordance with Section 5 Subsection 5 of the Foreign Maintenance Act, the Federal Office of Justice as Central Authority is deemed to be authorised to act on behalf of the person entitled to maintenance.