Supervisor (volunteer)

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In Germany, a volunteer supervisor is someone who has taken on legal support ( § 1896 ff. BGB ) outside of a professional activity.

The care is (like the guardianship and guardianship in the past) an essentially free honorary position . Therefore, individuals should primarily take care of the care on a voluntary basis. These are often relatives, friends, neighbors or professional colleagues of those affected, but sometimes also people who take on this service for people with whom they had no previous contact. Around 70% of all care (800,000 cases in 2004) is carried out on a voluntary basis. Of these, around 85% are family members of the person being cared for. According to Section 1897 (5) of the German Civil Code , this also takes priority, but according to Section 1897 (6) of the German Civil Code , volunteer supervisors who are not members of the family are to be appointed priority over professional supervisors .

Voluntary carers have various claims that arise from volunteering towards the person they are caring for or the state. Since most volunteer supervisors only provide supervision, it can be assumed that more than 750,000 people are appointed as volunteer supervisors in the Federal Republic of Germany. Opposite them are around 17,000 professional carers who work independently or as employees in care associations and care authorities and who in turn lead around 400,000 care providers.

Volunteering

There is no clearly defined definition of voluntary work. The definitions are varied: “Voluntary work is voluntary, non-paid activity in the social field. It is a matter of voluntary, i.e. unpaid work, even if only expense allowances or reimbursement of expenses are granted ”. Volunteers are - according to the specialist lexicon of social work - citizens who make themselves available sporadically or regularly for tasks in social work for no or little remuneration. A further definition is based on personal motivation when it describes voluntary help as a solidary expression of co-civic responsibility for those in need, needy and perplexed, for people par excellence, as lively sympathy and active participation in the solution of social problems as a democratic mobilization for social community tasks.

Even if an exact delimitation of the content obviously proves to be difficult, the three determination criteria seem accordingly

  • Gratuitousness
  • social motivation
  • Voluntariness

to be inherent in “volunteering”.

Obligation to take over

Every citizen is obliged to take over care if it is suitable for the personal care of the person concerned and if the takeover can be expected ( § 1898 BGB ). For this purpose, other, in particular family and health burdens are taken into account. In order to appoint a supervisor , a declaration of consent from the person to be appointed to the supervisory court is required. Nobody can be forced to submit this declaration of consent as part of the supervision process. In contrast to a guardianship according to § 1788 BGB, there is no penalty payment for childcare . However, if the proposed person rejects guardianship or care without good cause and the person concerned suffered damage as a result, the proposed person must compensate for this damage ( § 1787 BGB ). V. m. Section 1908i BGB.

Supervisor duties

The duties of voluntary and professional supervisors do not fundamentally differ. Also volunteer caregivers are within the scope of the service judge specified task circles legal representative of assisted ( § 1902 BGB ) and have the desires of local citizens in the 1901 § BGB to be considered. In the case of various legal acts, they have to obtain court approvals and are accountable to the supervision court (§ § 1837 ff. BGB ).

Only spouses , life partners , children, grandchildren or parents are exempted from certain licensing requirements for financial investments and accounting ( Section 1840 BGB ) as carers (so-called "exempt" carers; cf. Section 1908i Paragraph 2 BGB , Section 1852 , Section 1854 BGB ) . This also applies to club supervisors and officials.

In the event of a breach of duty, the voluntary supervisor is also liable . Liability relief is sometimes granted to legally inexperienced volunteer supervisors, for example in dealing with social benefit providers (OLG Schleswig, FamRZ 1997, 1427 = NJWE-FER 1997, 105). See also below for liability insurance.

Advice and support

In practical work with those affected, the main thing is to win as many suitable people as possible to take on care. It is an important goal of the Care Act that the volunteer carers are not left alone to carry out their demanding work, but that a reliable system of support, advice and help is available for them.

Right to advice from the supervisory court

Opportunities for consultation exist both in court and support to the competent authority care. The supervisor is more likely to turn to the court with questions from the area of ​​civil law, for example in connection with approval reservations or annual accounting.

According to Section 1837 (1) BGB (in conjunction with Section 1908 i (1) BGB ), the supervision court has an obligation to provide advice. It is placed at the supervisor's side like a competent lawyer , so that the supervisor can generally rely on legal advice from the supervisory court. However, judicial advice or a supervisory court approval is not automatically associated with an exemption from liability. In the event of legal ignorance, a supervisor may be obliged to seek legal advice .

Advice and support from the supervisory authority

In contrast, the supervisory authority , which is usually located at the city administration or the district administration (district administration), is the main point of contact when it comes to more practical questions. The authority is also obliged to provide advice ( Section 4 of the Supervision Authorities Act ).

The authority will provide information on possible offers of help (e.g. general social service, use of domestic help, mobile lunch, community nurses, social stations, arranging home places), and may also be able to provide such help. Advice on public law ( social law , administrative law ) is also often given by the supervisory authorities. The supervisory authority must also support the supervisor in transferring the person being cared for to custodial accommodation ( Section 70g (5) FGG)

Care associations

Especially at the beginning of his activity, it is important that the supervisor is introduced to his / her tasks, whereby the supervisory authority has to ensure sufficient introductory and advanced training courses, which are usually carried out by the supervisory associations. In the context of corresponding events, not only legal questions of care and the various offers of help, but also rules for dealing with those affected can be discussed.

According to the Care Act, the care associations play an important role . Full-time employees of the associations should - in addition to the offerings of courts and authorities - advise the supervisors and support them in the performance of their tasks. In addition, it is desirable that the supervisors are given the opportunity to participate in a regular exchange of experiences with other supervisors § 1908f .

Entitlement to reimbursement of expenses

The supervisor does not need to finance the necessary expenses associated with the supervision himself, but is entitled to an advance or reimbursement of costs. The regulation can be found in § 1835 BGB , which also applies to supervisors.

Billable expenses

In particular, costs such as letter postage , photocopying costs , telephone and fax fees and travel costs to visit the person being looked after or to regulate their affairs in other ways can be billed.

For the details (e.g. mileage allowance, which can be paid in the amount of 0.30 euros), the supervisor should contact the responsible judicial officer at the supervisory court. Supervision associations and authorities also provide information on this and often provide sample application forms.

The supervisor can take the corresponding amount of money directly from the supervised person's assets if the supervised person is not destitute and the supervisor has been entrusted with the care of the supervised property. Such withdrawals are to be indicated accordingly in the invoice.

In the case of poor means, payment from the state treasury

The legislature assumes that the lump sum for expenses, as well as the reimbursement of expenses according to the individual billing ( § 1835 BGB ) or the remuneration (§ 1836 BGB ), is to be paid by the person in care. Payment of the reimbursement of expenses from the state treasury (i.e. from the judicial budget of the respective federal state) is only provided in the event that the person being cared for should be penniless within the meaning of Section 1835 (4) BGB . Payment is only made after assertion by the supervisor, although this is not bound to a specific form and can therefore also be made orally. The lump sum must be paid by 31.3. of the following calendar year for the previous year, otherwise the entitlement lapses.

The question of lack of means is judged by § 1836c BGB according to the differentiating provisions of social welfare law (SGB-XII). Smaller cash amounts of at least EUR 2,600.00, for example, are not offset. In individual cases, the tax exemptions may increase.

Other assets that are not to be taken into account include, among other things, a suitable house plot that you use yourself, capital that has been saved up to purchase a home, or capital the accumulation of which has been subsidized by the state for old-age provision. In these cases the claim for reimbursement of expenses is directed against the state treasury.

Lump sum for expenses

In the case of reimbursement of expenses, the volunteer supervisor has the choice of whether he wants to account for each individual expense and document it accordingly, or whether he wants to make use of the option of claiming an annual expense allowance of 399.00 euros to compensate for his claim ( Section 1835a BGB ). Most supervisors choose this simplified option. Up to 2,400 euros per year are tax-free (Section 3 No. 26b EStG).

Substitute for professional services

Does the supervisor use special professional knowledge, e.g. B. as a lawyer or tax advisor, he can claim the usual fees (e.g. according to RVG ) as reimbursement of expenses for professional services ( § 1835 Paragraph 3 BGB ).

Compensation for time spent

Only those who are entitled to a supervisor's remuneration are entitled to their professional supervision in the decision of the Guardianship Court ( Section 1836 (1) sentence 2 BGB in conjunction with the Guardian and Supervisor Remuneration Act VBVG). Otherwise, volunteer support can be assumed. However, the supervisory court can also grant a voluntary supervisor remuneration for the time spent in exceptional cases ( Section 1836 (2 ) BGB ). This is only possible for wealthy custodians within the meaning of §§ 1836c, d BGB . The exceptional character of Section 1836 (2) of the German Civil Code ( BGB) is contradicted by granting the volunteer supervisor a higher remuneration than a professional supervisor should have been granted.

Liability insurance

The liability for damages arising under § 1833 of the Civil Code can be a financial burden. According to Section 1837 (2) of the German Civil Code ( BGB) , the supervisory court can oblige the supervisor to take out liability insurance. For volunteer supervisors, however, all federal states have taken out collective liability insurance, in which all supervisors who are not professionally active are insured. Here, personal injury and property damage are insured up to EUR 1 million. In the case of financial losses, however, the insurance coverage is significantly lower. Depending on the federal state, the insurance coverage for financial losses is between 50 and 100,000 euros.

Supervisors can take out additional insurance, especially for financial losses. Voluntary carers can have these insurance contributions reimbursed as reimbursement of expenses ( Section 1835 (2 ) BGB ). However, if these supervisors choose the flat-rate fee of 399.00 euros ( Section 1835a BGB ), the insurance premium will not be reimbursed separately. In addition to or instead of collective insurance cover, many care associations offer volunteer carers an inexpensive option for liability insurance.

Accident insurance coverage

If the caregiver suffers damage himself in the course of his work, a personal accident insurance of the public service is responsible for the treatment in the event of illness. Accidents within the framework of the (also voluntary) carer work are classified as work or commuting accidents within the meaning of the statutory accident insurance ( Section 2, Paragraph 1, No. 10, Book 7 of the Social Code ). Voluntary carers are insured free of charge through the personal accident insurance of the respective federal state. Registration forms for accidents are available at the local court.

See also

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ OLG Hamm ZEV 2002, 466 = FGPrax 2002, 229 = Rpfleger 2002, 518 = FamRZ 2003, 116; BayObLG BayObLGZ 2004, 177 = FamRZ 2004, 1138 = BtPrax 2004, 151 = Rpfleger 2004, 488