25 Oct Gay German couples win child benefits but adoption ban remains
Despite still being banned from adoption, same-sex couples in Germany were given equal state child benefits yesterday (23 October).
A lesbian couple in a civil union, with two children each, were victorious in a legal case at the Federal Fiscal Court in Munich.
The AFP reports the plaintiff, not identified by the court, argued she and her civil partner were entitled to the higher rate of €215 ($296) per month given to families of four children.
German child benefits are granted to parents on a sliding scale with the sum per child increasing for large families.
While a lower court had dismissed her claim, the federal tribunal said as same-sex couples were given tax equality earlier this year then they should also receive the same child benefits.
‘The BFH decided with its ruling that this legal application was also relevant for determining child benefit rates,’ it said.
This is the latest move for further rights in Germany, the most populous nation in Europe.
In 2001, same-sex couples were given the right to enter into civil unions, and in February 2012 it found those couples should be allowed to adopt their partners’ children.
Gay couples are still forbidden from adopting children together in Germany.
The Social Democrats, in favor of gay marriage and adoption, entered into formal coalition talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats this week.
Source: Gay star news