Respite care and short-term care in Germany: using the €3,539 annual budget

From care grade 2, German care insurance provides a joint annual budget of €3,539 for respite care (Verhinderungspflege) and short-term care (Kurzzeitpflege) (§ 42a SGB XI, in force since 1 July 2025). You can split the money freely between the two, and each can be used for up to eight weeks per calendar year. During replacement care, the care insurance fund keeps paying half of the care allowance.

The two benefits compared

	Respite care (§ 39)	Short-term care (§ 42)
Purpose	cover when the main carer is unavailable (holiday, illness, other reasons)	temporary residential care, for example after hospital or in a crisis
Where	at home or elsewhere, by a care service, private individuals or a facility	in an approved short-term care facility
From care grade	2	2
Duration	up to 8 weeks per calendar year	up to 8 weeks per calendar year
Budget	joint annual budget of €3,539	joint annual budget of €3,539
Care allowance	half continues	half continues

The budget applies per calendar year, and whatever is left on 31 December is lost. You can estimate your entitlement with the care benefits calculator.

Respite care: when the main carer needs a break

Respite care, also called replacement care (Ersatzpflege), steps in when the main carer needs a break or is ill. It requires that a carer looks after the person with at least care grade 2 at home. Replacement care can be provided by:

• a professional home care service, for example from our home care directory,
• a neighbour, friend or other private individual,
• close relatives,
• a facility such as a day care centre or care home.

How much the fund pays

Who provides replacement care	Maximum per year
Home care service, facility, people who are not related	up to €3,539
Close relatives doing it on a professional basis	up to €3,539
Close relatives doing it on an unpaid basis	usually up to two months of care allowance, plus documented necessary expenses, together at most €3,539

Close relatives are people related to the person in need of care by blood or marriage up to the second degree, such as children, parents, grandchildren, grandparents, siblings or children-in-law, as well as anyone living in the same household.

Two months of care allowance per care grade (the limit for unpaid replacement care by close relatives):

Care grade	Two months of care allowance
2	€694
3	€1,198
4	€1,600
5	€1,980

On proof, the fund can also cover necessary expenses of the replacement carer, such as travel costs, as long as the annual budget is not exceeded.

Respite care by the hour

Respite care does not have to be taken in full days. Individual hours are also possible, for instance while the main carer goes to a doctor’s appointment. In the care insurance funds’ practice, the care allowance is not reduced for absences of less than eight hours a day. If in doubt, check with your fund.

Claiming the costs

There is no need to apply before respite care starts. You submit the costs with receipts to the care insurance fund (Pflegekasse) by the end of the calendar year following the replacement care. For replacement care in 2026, that means by 31 December 2027. Care providers must give you a written overview afterwards showing which amount is to be billed against the annual budget.

Short-term care: a temporary stay in a facility

Short-term care is a time-limited stay in an approved residential facility. It is an option when care at home is temporarily not possible or not sufficient and part-time solutions such as day care are not enough either. Typical situations are the period after a hospital stay or a crisis, for example when the main carer suddenly becomes unavailable.

The fund covers care-related costs, social support and medical treatment care up to the annual budget. You pay for accommodation, meals and investment costs yourself. The relief amount of €131 a month, including any saved-up balance, can be used towards these costs. Short-term care places are scarce in many regions, so it is worth asking early.

Care allowance during replacement care

During short-term care and during respite care, half of the care allowance previously received continues for up to eight weeks per calendar year in each case (§ 37(2) SGB XI). With the combination benefit, half of the proportional allowance continues. See our guide to the care allowance.

Worked example

A woman with care grade 3 is cared for by her daughter. In summer the daughter goes on holiday for three weeks and a home care service provides replacement care, invoicing €1,800. In autumn, after a hospital stay, short-term care is needed, with care-related costs of €1,739.

• Respite care: €1,800
• Short-term care: €1,739
• Total: €3,539, so the annual budget is used up.
• During both periods she receives half of her €599 care allowance.
• She pays accommodation and meals during short-term care herself or through the relief amount.

Common mistakes

• Submitting receipts too late: the deadline ends with the following year, so send invoices in straight away.
• Planning the budget twice: respite and short-term care draw on the same pot, so keep track of what is left.
• Forgetting the relief amount: especially in short-term care it covers part of your own costs.

Our guide on support for family carers shows further ways to take the pressure off.

Legal sources

• § 39 SGB XI: respite care
• § 42 SGB XI: short-term care
• § 42a SGB XI: joint annual budget

This guide does not replace individual care or legal advice. The decision and information from your care insurance fund are binding.