Personal budget: managing benefits as money yourself

Legal status: 08.10.2026 (federal law, checked against the statutory text). The versions in force at the time of your application are decisive. Legal terms are translated here for understanding; the German wording of the law is what counts.

What the personal budget is

The personal budget is not an additional benefit but another form in which participation benefits are provided. You decide how you meet the determined need, for example support you choose yourself instead of a prescribed benefit in kind. ^[1] The budget is as a rule provided as a cash benefit; in justified cases, vouchers are issued. ^[1] Certain benefits of the health and care insurance funds as well as help with care under social assistance can also be included in a budget, as far as they relate to everyday and regularly recurring needs and can be provided as a cash benefit or by vouchers. ^[1]

Who is involved and who leads the procedure

According to the determined need, the rehabilitation providers, the care insurance funds and the integration offices are involved in a personal budget. It is provided by the benefit providers involved across providers as a complex service, but can also be provided by a single benefit provider. ^[1] If you apply for benefits as a personal budget, the rehabilitation provider providing under section 14 SGB IX is responsible for the procedure. The same applies correspondingly to the care insurance funds and the integration offices. ^[1] On the question of who the “providing provider” is: Applying and filing an objection.

Target agreement

The benefit provider and you conclude a target agreement for implementation. It contains at least provisions on ^[1]:

• the orientation of the individual support and benefit goals,
• the need for proof that the determined individual need is met,
• quality assurance and
• the amount of the partial and the total budget.

Both sides can terminate the target agreement in writing with immediate effect for good cause if continuing is not reasonable for them. A good cause can lie for you in particular in your personal life situation. For the benefit provider it can exist if you do not keep to the agreement, in particular on proof and quality assurance. On termination, the administrative act is revoked. ^[1] If care insurance funds alone are benefit providers and they provide the budget for care benefits, this provision on the target agreement does not apply. ^[1]

Amount and review

The budget is set so that the individually determined need is met and the necessary advice and support can be provided. Its amount should not exceed the costs of all previously individually determined benefits that would have to be provided without the budget. ^[1] The needs assessment procedure for ongoing benefits is as a rule repeated at intervals of two years; in justified cases, deviations are possible. ^[1]

What else you should know

• You do not have to choose it. The personal budget is available only on application. ^[1]
• Proof is part of it. The target agreement regulates how you prove that the need is met. Keep receipts.
• Note the commitment. The decision applies for six months. ^[1]
• Use advice. Independent advice before applying can help: Finding advice.
• Not covered: how the budget is calculated in the individual case, which benefits of your provider can be included in a budget and how assistants are employed. This depends on the individual case.

Sources and literature

1. § 29 SGB IX – Persönliches Budget. Sozialgesetzbuch Neuntes Buch (www.gesetze-im-internet.de/sgb_9_2018/__29.html). – Statute (German federal law, in German)