Rejection of Direct Payment of Disability Child's Pension to the Emancipated Son

Facts

The case concerns the question of whether the disability child's pension can be paid directly to the emancipated, still-in-training son of the pension beneficiary.

According to the law and ordinance, the child's pension is generally paid to the pension-entitled parent. Direct payment to the emancipated child is not provided for. The appellant argues that this constitutes a legal loophole that should be judicially filled.

However, the Federal Court concludes that there is no room for judicial gap-filling here. The legislator has consciously not regulated the issue of paying the child's pension to the emancipated child (qualified silence). The different payment modalities of child's and orphan's pension are system-compliant.

While civil law provides that the parent liable for maintenance must pay the child's pension in addition to the maintenance, it is the responsibility of the civil courts to determine the maintenance contributions…