Allowance for care services despite maintenance obligation

If the caregiving was a voluntary sacrifice because the decedent had sufficient assets of his own not to be dependent, children and other abstract dependents are also entitled to the caregiving allowance for inheritance tax purposes.

Anyone who has cared for the decedent for no or only a small financial consideration is entitled to an allowance of up to 20,000 euros for inheritance tax. However, according to the inheritance tax guidelines, this entitlement is subject to the condition that the heir is not liable to pay maintenance to the decedent. However, the Lower Saxony Fiscal Court does not want to accept such a global restriction and has awarded the allowance to a daughter after she had cared for her mother for years. For the court, the tax-free allowance is only out of the question if there is actually a maintenance obligation. However, if the testator is not in need of maintenance at all because of substantial assets of his own, the care does not constitute the fulfillment of a maintenance obligation but a voluntary sacrifice for which the allowance is to be granted.