What the amount depends on

Child maintenance: the father doesn’t always pay

Separated as a couple, forever connected as parents with their offspring. However, it's not just about love, but also about providing the best possible care for the children.(Bild: Grady R/peopleimages.com - stock.adobe.com)

The partnership is over, but parenthood is not. This means that both parents have to pay for the offspring. Who pays how much and when depends on various factors. We have taken a look at this.

Generally speaking, both parents are liable for maintenance in Austria. If parents live in the same household as the child, they provide so-called "maintenance in kind": they fulfill their maintenance obligation by providing living space, clothing, food, etc. If one parent does not live with the child, "they must fulfill their maintenance obligation in the form of monetary maintenance", says trainee lawyer Johannes Musger from the law firm FSKN Rechtsanwälte GmbH in Graz.