More and more young adults are confronted with the problem of suddenly having to be responsible for their parents' debts. To counteract this, the North Rhine-Westphalia consumer advice center provides information on the subject of parental debt on its website and shows how you can protect yourself from it.

Parental debt: How children can counteract financial stress

Your parents have debts and you have to pay them? No reason to panic! Here you will find a sample text that you can use to defend yourself.

Imagine turning 18 and receiving a letter from an authority, for example from the employment office. It says that you and your parents received too many social benefits (e.g. citizen's benefit) as a child or young person. Now you should pay for the debts your parents caused. Sounds unfair? We think so too. And that's why you shouldn't just pay like that!

Many children and young people in Germany have to pay for their parents' debts

If, as a child or teenager, you have no money with which to pay your debts, and you don't suddenly have your own money when you turn 18, the office has to find out. To do this you have to write a letter. In it you can write the following (of course you have to enter the corresponding numbers for xx)

Dear Sir or Madam,
you are making a claim against me for €xx.
I turned 18 on xx.xx.xxxx and hereby file an objection to the limitation of liability for minors in accordance with Section 1629a of the German Civil Code (BGB). I have no assets whatsoever. For this reason, I ask you not to pursue the claim against me any further and to send me a corresponding confirmation message. Best regards

By the time you've sent this letter to the authorities, you should be done with the issue. Not your parents, because the debt is still there. But if you continue to be asked to pay, you should get help. Various institutions offer free help with money problems - including the North Rhine-Westphalia Consumer Advice Center .

If you have other money problems, it's also worth going to a counseling center - for example, if your parents have taken out a cell phone contract in your name and there are still outstanding bills. It is important that you go to an officially recognized location. If a “debt counselor” offers you money to pay off your debts, that is more likely to be a loan shark and not reputable!

Source: Checked4you

Also read: Four out of five parents want computer science to be a compulsory subject


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