Apply for social assistance

You can receive financial support through basic income support in old age and in the event of reduced earning capacity. This helps you to finance your living expenses and covers the socio-cultural minimum subsistence level. It is a social welfare benefit and fulfills the same function as assistance with living expenses, but for a special group of people.

The amount of basic security depends on your individual needs and your available income and assets. Assets include house and property assets if you do not live in them yourself, the current value of cars, cash, balances in accounts with banks, savings banks, building societies, securities and surrender values of life and death insurance policies. The granting of benefits presupposes neediness. Basic income support generally covers various needs, including

• the relevant standard requirement
• Accommodation and heating requirements, insofar as they are reasonable, the following additional requirements:
  • Additional needs due to restricted mobility
  • Additional needs for single parents with one or more children
  • Additional requirement for decentralized hot water generation
  • Additional needs for expectant mothers from the 13th week of pregnancy
  • Additional needs for communal lunches in a sheltered workshop
  • Additional need for cost-intensive nutrition, for example due to a chronic illness
  • Additional needs for one-off, unavoidable, special needs
• One-off needs in special situations (e.g. initial furnishings for the home)
• Needs for health/nursing care insurance

• You apply for basic income support in old age and for reduced earning capacity at your local or supra-local social welfare agency (social welfare office) or via the online-portal.
• You submit the requested by the social welfare proofproof required by the social welfare provider. A list of the supporting documents to be submitted can be found in the application for the benefit.
• The competent authority examines your application and calculates your requirements and benefits to which you are entitled.
• If you submit an applicabecause of permanent full loss of earningreduction in earning capacity, the correspondingevidence will be checked or obtained from your pension insurance provider.insurance provider.
• The competent authority will decide on your application and and informs you of the result. You will also receive you will receive acorresponding notification from your competent authority.
• If your application is approved, you will receive an approval letter.if it is rejected, you will receive a rejectionrejection notice.
• In both cases, the decision will contain the reasons of thedecisiondecision. It also contains information on the possibility ofto appeal against the decision is also included.appeal (information on legal remedies). Therewith includes an indication of the
  period within which you can lodge an objection.appeal.
• The notice of approval containsamount of the benefit to be paidand the start date of the payment. From the datedate, the benefits to which you are entitled will be by the competent institution, usually at the beginning of the month.the beginning of the month.

Please contact the social welfare office of your district or city.

• You have your habitual residence in Germany.
• Your income and assets are not sufficient to cover your to be able to support yourself.
• You have reached the age limit (66 - 67 years) reached or are over 18 years old and permanently disabled.
• You are working in a workshop for disabled peopledisabled people or with another service providerprocedure and the vocational training area.
• You are in a training relationship for which you receive a budget for training.

• Completed application
• Income-/Proof of assetse
• Tenancy agreement/current rent change letter/current nerent- and heating bills
• Receipts for current expenses
• If available: Disability certificate
• If available, upon application due to fullreduction in earning capacity: Legal opinion/notice from the pension provider or the pension insurance about a permanent, full reduction in earning capacity
• If available: Pensionfirstdecision
• GIf necessary further documents

Fee: gebührenfrei

You can claim benefits from the first of the months in which you have submitted your application.
The benefit is generally granted for twelve calendar months. If you meet the requirements but the examination of your application is time-consuming, you can also apply for provisional approval for six months.
However, a provisional decision must be made on the provision of cash benefits provisionally if it has been established that a person falls under the personalthe personal scope of Chapter 4 of SGB XII and

1. to determine the further requirementsof the entitlementfor cash benefits is likely to take a longer period of time and theand the other requirements for entitlement to cash benefits arefor the claim are met with sufficient probability or
2. an entitlement to cash benefits exists on the merits and the and a longer period of time is likely to be time is required to determine its amount.

After expiry of the approval period, no new application is required for the continued no new application is required for the continuation of basic security benefits, however, the income and assets will be assessed before anyre-approvalre-examined before each re-approval.

Period of Validity: 12 Monate

The processing time depends on the specifics of the individual case.

Processing Time: 1 - 6 Monate

Objection, contestation- and performanceaction (wou will find further information on how to lodge an appeal in the notification of your application)

Forms available: Yes
Written form required: No
Informal application possible: Yes
Personal appearance necessary: No

Basic income support in old age and in the event of reduced earning capacity is granted on a subordinate basis. This means that those entitled to benefits are obliged to help themselves and give priority to other social benefits (e.g. pensions, housing benefit) or claims against third parties (e.g. maintenance payments) if this leads to the avoidance, elimination, reduction or reduction of their need for assistance.

Dependants with a maintenance obligation are also required to pay the costs of social assistance if their gross annual income exceeds EUR 100,000 (per person with a maintenance obligation).

The following are not entitled to basic security benefits:

• Persons who have caused their neediness intentionally or through gross negligence within the last 10 years
• foreign nationals who receive benefits under the Asylum Seekers' Benefits Act
• Persons whose assets exceed the asset exemption limit (here: 10,000 euros for one person and 10,000 euros for a spouse or partner).

Ministry of Labor, Health and Social Affairs NRW

The text was automatically translated based on the German content.

Thuringian Ministry for Social Affairs, Health, Labor and Family (TMSGAF)

17.06.2025

Social welfare office