ELFE - Complete the name determination, parental benefit application, and child support application at the same time as a combined family benefit.

With the combined family benefit, various benefits can be applied for from different authorities via a single online service - ELFE (Simply Benefits for Parents). You can apply for the benefits simultaneously, bundled and easily.
You only need to enter your data once and do not need to submit any additional documents to the different authorities.With the ELFE online service, you can apply for all benefits at the same time or freely choose which of the 3 benefits you want to apply for. The following benefits are available:

1. Determine the name of the newborn child and order birth certificates from the registry office.
2. Apply for child benefit at the family benefits office.
3. Apply for parental allowance at the Elterngeldstelle:

With your consent, the relevant offices will exchange birth data electronically among themselves. At the same time, you can agree to have your salary data automatically retrieved by your employer and transmitted to the responsible parental allowance office by means of the pension insurance data office. This way, you do not have to send paper statements to the parental allowance office.

You do not have to use the online service. You can still submit all applications by mail or in person to the competent authority. A combination of postal, personal submission and use of the online service is also possible.

Requirements

• The application must be submitted simultaneously by 2 applicants who are married to each other.
• Identification with ID card with eID function, associated PIN and a USB card reader or NFC-enabled smartphone.

The ELFE online service is currently only available to a restricted target group. You belong to the target group if the following applies to you:

• You are a salaried employee:in in Germany, i.e. there is no civil servant relationship and no self-employment.
• You got married after 1999 in the registry office Bremen-Mitte or after 2008 in the registry office Bremen-Nord and are still married to each other.
• You have your residence or habitual abode in the city of Bremen.
• You submit your application jointly.
• Your child was born in the hospital DIAKO Ev. Diakonie-Krankenhaus, Krankenhaus St. Joseph-Stift, Klinikum Bremen-Mitte, in the birth center Weserhebammen or in the birth center and midwife practice Bremen.
• You would like to submit your application for your biological, newborn child. The child lives in your household and is cared for by you together. It is the mother's first child and the father's first child.
• You have a German identity card with eID function. Unfortunately, the electronic residence title is not currently supported.

What documents do I need?

• Identity card with eID function
• Certificate of employment
  

  Employer's confirmation of taking parental leave or reducing working hours.

• Certificate of maternity pay, statement from the employer for the calculation of the maternity pay supplement from the health insurance company
• Birth certificate with purpose of use parental allowance
  

  Only necessary if you do not give consent for electronic data retrieval and transmission from the employer to the parental benefit office and for data transmission of the birth certificate.

• If you do not choose the Name Determination service, you must submit the original birth certificate to the Parental Benefits Office. Copies or sending it by fax or as a scanned document by mail will not be accepted.
  

  Only necessary if you do not give consent for electronic data retrieval and transmission from the employer to the parental benefit office and for data transmission of the birth certificate.