Tacheles Legal Case Law Ticker Week 46/2025

Overview of case law – basic income support, social assistance, Asylum Seekers' Benefits Act (AsylbLG) and citizen's income

1. Decisions of the state social courts on basic income support under the German Social Code, Book II (citizen's allowance)

1.1 – LSG Baden-Württemberg, decision of 02.10.2025 – L 2 AS 969/25

According to the case law of the Federal Social Court (BSG), contractual obligations between relatives must be valid in order to be considered as costs for accommodation and heating.

Note by Detlef Brock

1. It was reasonable to assume that the lease agreement was concluded solely because the plaintiff or his brother assumed that the rent would be covered by the job center. This also explains why the lease agreement was intended to serve as a rent certificate – such a certificate had been repeatedly requested by the job center but not provided. The job center subsequently denied the citizen's allowance (§ 66 SGB I).
2. Especially in contracts between family members, even in the case of non-payment, there must be indications of the seriousness of the contract and its execution. Such indications were completely lacking here.

Source: www.socialgerichtsabilities.de

Legal tip:
A rent increase of 50% among relatives is unrealistic (LSG Hamburg, judgment of 16.07.2025 – L 4 AS 266/22 D).

Sources:

1. Tacheles Legal Case Law Ticker Week 37/2025
2. Volker Albrecht, Attorney at Law/Specialist in Social Law/Specialist in Criminal Law – Blog post from ARBER Seminars

1.2 – LSG Baden-Württemberg, Judgment of 06.08.2025 – L 2 AS 1594/25

A declaratory action aimed at the obligation to reduce costs can only be a last resort.

Note by Detlef Brock

1. The determination that there is no obligation to reduce costs can, in principle, be the subject of a declaratory judgment action.
2. However, such a lawsuit can only a last resort . There are stricter requirements regarding the legitimate interest in obtaining a declaratory judgment.
3. In particular, any declaratory action brought immediately after receipt of the cost reduction request is inadmissible.
4. A legitimate interest in a declaratory judgment cannot be established merely by asserting that the reasonableness limit set by the job center is incorrect. That is only a preliminary question. Rather, what is required is a fact-based demonstration of the unreasonableness or impossibility of reducing costs (§ 22 para. 1 sentence 3 SGB II), which is lacking here.

Source: www.socialgerichtsabilities.de

Legal tip:
The same result was reached by the Baden-Württemberg State Social Court (LSG Baden-Württemberg), decision of 12.05.2025 – L 2 AS 1017/25.

1.3 – LSG Baden-Württemberg, Judgment of 16.09.2025 – L 2 AS 1728/25

Reimbursement claim in the amount of €2,322.12 is lawful: faulty logbook of a self-employed person supplementing their income with additional benefits.

Note by Detlef Brock

1. The job center is not required to recognize business expenses for vehicle costs for self-employed individuals who supplement their citizen's income if a properly maintained, closed logbook is not submitted.
2. A simple Excel spreadsheet does not meet these requirements.
3. Electronic logbooks are only sufficient if subsequent changes are excluded or fully documented.
4. This was not the case here – the Excel document did not indicate when entries were created or changed.

Source: www.socialgerichtsabilities.de

1.4 – LSG Hessen, Judgment of 07.07.2025 – L 9 AS 74/23

No additional needs allowance according to § 21 para. 4 SGB II for further training measure “External exam preparation industrial clerk”, as it is not due to disability.

Note by Detlef Brock

1. Benefits for participation in working life require that the opportunities for participation are significantly reduced due to the nature or severity of the disability (§ 2 para. 1 SGB IX) and that assistance is therefore needed.
2. Assistance must due to the disability (Federal Social Court, judgment of November 12, 2015 – B 14 AS 34/14 R). However, the training course attended did not change the existing disability-related barriers to employment.
3. The measure was not necessary due to the disability, but was necessary regardless of the disability because of the plaintiff's professional career.

Source : www.sozialgerichtsbarkeit.de​

2. Decisions on social assistance (SGB XII)

2.1 – SG Lüneburg, decision of 29.09.2025 – S 38 SO 34/25 ER

Motor vehicle assistance – vehicle converted for disabled access

Note (Detlef Brock)

1. The social welfare office acted arbitrarily by refusing a severely disabled student the car subsidy for a vehicle adapted for disabled persons.
2. The court criticizes the authority: the sole criterion is the legal requirements for a vehicle subsidy.

Note by Detlef Brock

1. For the study of a severely disabled person, a vehicle allowance can be granted for a vehicle adapted for disabled persons (§§ 114 in conjunction with § 83 para. 1 no. 2 SGB IX).

Source: voris.wolterskluwer-online.de

2.2 – LSG Baden-Württemberg, decision of 14 October 2025 – L 2 SO 2806/25 ER-B

No additional nutritional needs in case of cancer without credible cooperation (medical evidence)

Note by Detlef Brock

1. A cancer diagnosis does not necessarily lead to malnutrition. Therefore, medical records are essential to determine any medically justified increased nutritional needs.

Source: www.socialgerichtsabilities.de

3. Decisions concerning the Asylum Seekers' Benefits Act (AsylbLG)

3.1 – LSG Baden-Württemberg, decision of 05.06.2025 – L 7 AY 1413/25 ER-B

The Asylum Seekers' Benefits Act (AsylbLG) does not contain a grandfathering clause like Section 28a Paragraph 5 of the German Social Code, Book XII (SGB XII).

Note by Detlef Brock

1. Section 28a paragraph 5 of the German Social Code, Book XII (SGB XII) is not applicable via Section 3a paragraph 4 of the Asylum Seekers' Benefits Act (AsylbLG).

Legal tip:
Dissenting opinions can be found, among others:
– LSG BW, decision of 05.08.2025 – L 7 AY 1344/25 ER-B
– SG Halle, decision of 08.09.2025 – S 17 AY 28/25 ER

The latter courts argue that Section 28a Paragraph 5 of the German Social Code, Book XII (SGB XII) is directly applicable.

3.2 – Administrative Court Karlsruhe, decision of 03.11.2025 – A 13 K 10026/25

Notice regarding delivery procedures must be given in a language familiar to the foreigner.

Guiding principles

1. The deemed service provision pursuant to Section 10 Paragraph 4 Sentence 4 Half-Sentence 2 of the Asylum Act only applies if proper instruction has been given beforehand in accordance with Section 10 Paragraph 7 of the Asylum Act.
2. Proper instruction is not given if the attached German-language legal material contains an outdated version of Section 10 of the Asylum Act or is misleading.

Note on citation style

Unpublished judgments, annotations, or case reviews may only be cited with source attribution:

•     Source: Tacheles Legal Case Law Ticker Week XX/2025 – Author: Detlef Brock
•     For newsletters: Thomé Newsletter 12/2025 from April 6, 2025 – Author: Harald Thomé
•     License: Creative Commons CC-BY-SA 3.0

⚠️ Quotes without source attribution are copyright infringement.

Author: Detlef Brock, editor of Tacheles.
Source: Tacheles legal case ticker