When is Kindergeld paid, and why has my money not come?

How the payment day is set

The Familienkasse pays Kindergeld once a month, by bank transfer to the account in your application. The day depends on the last digit, in German the Endziffer, of your Kindergeld number. Payments are spread over the month for technical reasons.

The official page is clear: you have no legal right to be paid on a particular day of the month. On weekends and public holidays the money can arrive later.

• Kindergeld for one child cannot be split over several bank accounts.
• On the first payment you get the full monthly amount, even if your claim starts on the last day of the month.
• In 2026 Kindergeld is 259 € per child per month.

Where to find your Kindergeld number

Your Kindergeld number has 11 characters in the form xxxFKxxxxxx, where each x is a digit. It is on every letter from the Familienkasse and on your bank statement, which also shows the amount and usually the period paid.

The translated leaflets call it numărul de alocație pentru copii (Romanian), номер за детски надбавки (Bulgarian) and numer zasiłku na dziecko (Polish). On the application form KG 1 the field is called Kindergeld-Nr.

Payment dates November 2026 to December 2027

Find the row for the month and the column for your last digit. The number is the day of the month. These are the dates the Bundesagentur für Arbeit published, read on 23 October 2026. They can change, and only the official page is binding, so check it before you rely on a date.

No money this month: what to check

Go through these steps in order before you call. Have your Kindergeld number ready.

1. Find the last digit of your Kindergeld number on a letter or bank statement.
2. Check the official date for that digit and month, and allow for weekends and holidays.
3. Look at your bank statement for a payment showing your Kindergeld number.
4. Ask yourself: did I change bank or address without telling the Familienkasse? Did a child turn 18? Is a letter or questionnaire still unanswered? Did my work or my partner's work change?
5. If nothing explains it, contact the Familienkasse with your Kindergeld number: online message, letter or phone.

Why the payment was lower, or stopped

• Money being offset: if Kindergeld was paid without a right, the Familienkasse can keep up to half of the current Kindergeld each month until the debt is paid. It can also keep up to half of a back payment.
• A new bank account or address you told only the bank, your employer or another office. You must tell the Familienkasse itself, without delay.
• A questionnaire or document request not answered. Documents should arrive within four weeks, or payment can stop, and the Familienkasse must cancel the Kindergeld, possibly backwards.
• A child who turned 18 (see below).
• A change abroad: in cross-border cases the Familienkasse also checks that its data matches the family benefit office at home.
• On request, Kindergeld can be paid to the person or office that actually supports the child, or to the child itself (Abzweigung).

Your child turned 18 and the money stopped

Kindergeld ends at the end of the month in which the child turns 18. If the birthday is on the 1st of a month, it ends at the end of the month before. It continues only after a new application with a reason, such as school, training or study.

Apply again before the birthday month ends. Only the six months before the month your new application arrives can be paid back.

Changes to report so the payments keep coming

A change you did not report can stop or cut the payment later. You must tell the Familienkasse itself about every change that matters, without delay (§ 68 EStG). Telling the bank, your employer or another office is not enough.

• A new bank account or a new address, yours or your family's.
• A new job, the end of a job, or a posting for you or the other parent, in Germany or at home.
• A move of a child to another country or another household.
• A child over 18 who finishes, changes or stops school, training or study.
• A pension that starts or stops, for you or the other parent.

How to contact the Familienkasse about a payment

Always give your Kindergeld number. For families in Romania the Familienkasse is Bayern Nord in Nürnberg, for Bulgaria Rheinland-Pfalz-Saarland in Mainz, and for Poland Sachsen in Chemnitz.

• Payment dates by recorded message, free and around the clock: 0800 4 55 55 33.
• Familienkasse hotline: 0800 4 55 55 30, free in Germany, Monday to Thursday 08:00 to 18:00, Friday 08:00 to 14:00.
• From abroad: 0049 911 1203 1010 (charged).
• Online: once you have a Kindergeld number, write through Online-Mitteilung schreiben on the page of your Familienkasse, through the Familienkassen-Profil, or with the eService Mitteilungen an die Familienkasse.

Not getting Kindergeld yet?

Nothing is paid before the Familienkasse has decided and sent you a written Bescheid. After that, back pay covers only the six months before the month your application arrived, so every month you wait costs 259 € per child.

Geldback helps only with a new application: it fills in KG 1, Anlage Kind and KG 51 for children under 18, for a fixed 59 €. It cannot see your payments, contact the Familienkasse, chase a missing payment or change your bank details. For those, contact the Familienkasse directly.