Die Namensbestimmung, den Elterngeldantrag und den Kindergeldantrag gleichzeitig als kombinierte Familienleistung erledigen

Act on the Digitization of Administrative Procedures for the Granting of Family Benefits § 1-9; Explanatory Memorandum A.1.

Have you had a child and would like to determine the child's name and order birth certificates, as well as apply for parental allowance and child benefit? Here you can find out how you can do everything at the same time, bundled and simply with one application.

With the combined family benefit, various benefits can be applied for from different authorities via a single online service - ELFE (Einfach Leistungen für Eltern). You can apply for the benefits at the same time, bundled and simply.
You only have to enter your details once and do not have to submit any further documents to the various authorities. With the ELFE online service, you can apply for all benefits at the same time or choose which of the 3 benefits you would like to apply for. The following benefits are available:

1. Determine the name of the newborn child and order birth certificates from the registry office.
2. Apply for child benefit at the family benefits office.
3. Apply for parental allowance at the parental allowance office:

With your consent, the relevant offices will exchange birth data electronically with each other. At the same time, you can agree to your salary data being automatically retrieved by your employer and transmitted to the relevant parental allowance office via the pension insurance data office. This means that you do not have to send paper documents to the parental allowance office.

You do not have to use the online service. You can continue to submit all applications by post or in person at the competent authority. A combination of postal and personal submission and use of the online service is also possible.

• ID card with eID function
• Proof of employment
  • Confirmation from the employer regarding the use of parental leave or reduction in working hours
• Certificate of maternity pay
• Employer's statement for the calculation of the maternity benefit subsidy from the health insurance fund.

If you give your consent to electronic data retrieval and transmission from your employer to the parental allowance office and to the transmission of birth certificate data, you do not need any further documents.

If you do not give your consent, you will need the following additional documents:

• Birth certificate with reference to parental allowance
  • If you do not choose the name determination service, you must submit the original birth certificate to the parental allowance office. Copies or transmission by fax or as a scanned document by e-mail will not be accepted.

• The application must be submitted by 2 married applicants at the same time.
• Identification with ID card with eID function, corresponding PIN and a USB card reader or an NFC-enabled smartphone.

Costs are only incurred if additional birth certificates are ordered.
Otherwise, there are no costs for using the online service.

You can apply for the combined family benefits at the same time or just selected individual services via the ELFE online service.

• To do this, use the online service ELFE - Simply benefits for parents
• After submitting the application from the online service, it is sent to the relevant specialist procedure of the responsible authority.
  

Time you need for the online services:

Name determination: approx. 10 minutes
Application for child benefit: approx. 5 - 10 minutes
Application for parental allowance: approx. 25 - 35 minutes

The birth is certified by the relevant registry office and can take a few days.
The child benefit application is checked and decided by the responsible family benefits office and usually only takes a few days.
The parental allowance application is checked and decided by the responsible parental allowance office and can take several weeks.

The complete combined application can only be used within 28 days of birth.

Deadlines for individual services:

Name determination: must be made within 28 days of birth.

Parental allowance: Benefits are granted from birth at the earliest and retroactively for no more than the last 3 months of life prior to the month of application.

Child benefit: In principle, every child is entitled to child benefit from birth until the age of 18.

• The office responsible for the administrative service "notification of birth" is the registry office in whose district the respective child was born
• The Federal Central Tax Office is responsible for the administrative service "child benefit" in accordance with the Income Tax Act; the Family Benefits Office of the Federal Employment Agency (on loan) and the Family Benefits Offices of the public sector are responsible for its implementation.
• The competent authorities for the administrative service "parental allowance" are the parental allowance offices of the federal states in which the applicant resides.

• Complete the name determination, parental allowance application and child benefit application at the same time as a combined family benefit
• Online application for various benefits
  • Naming the newborn child and ordering birth certificates
  • Apply for parental allowance
  • Apply for child benefit
• All services can be selected simultaneously or individually.
• Data entry and provision of documents only necessary once. Different offices exchange data with each other.
  • Parental consent must be given
• With the parents' consent, the salary data required to calculate the parental allowance can be retrieved electronically from the German Pension Insurance.
• Responsible office: Senator for Finance, Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (for the individual benefits included in the combined application: registry office, parental allowance office, family benefits office)