Last checked against the official sources: 29 August 2026
When a bank account is seized, everything stops: rent, electricity, food. German law provides an immediate way out called the seizure-protection account — and it is a right, not a request that can be granted or refused. It can be exercised at any time, even when the account is overdrawn. Two rules inside it escape most debtors: unused protected balance carries over for three months, and child benefit is protected under a separate provision.
The rules as stated
- The right to convert
- Any natural person may at any time require the bank to run their payment account as a seizure-protection account — and this applies even where the account shows a negative balance at the time of the demand. But such an account may be run only on a credit basis.
- After a seizure
- Where the balance has already been seized, conversion may be demanded with effect from the beginning of the fourth business day following the demand — the contractual relationship otherwise remains untouched.
- One account only
- No person may maintain more than one such account, and the customer must assure the bank that they hold no other.
- The protected amount
- The monthly unseizable amount, rounded up to the next full ten euros, disposable until the end of the calendar month.
- The carry-over
- Whatever is not used is not caught by the seizure in the three following calendar months, in addition to each of those months’ own protection.
Conversion is a right — not a service the bank grants
§ 850k opens in the language of entitlement, not request: “a natural person may at any time require the credit institution to run a payment account held there as a seizure-protection account.” The bank has no discretion and no power of refusal.
Then comes the sentence that settles the most awkward cases: “this also applies where the payment account shows a negative balance at the time of the demand.” Being overdrawn does not block conversion — contrary to what some counter staff say.
One limitation applies in return: the account may be run only on a credit basis. Conversion therefore ends the overdraft facility in practice — that is the trade-off.
Where the balance has already been seized, paragraph 2 fixes a date: conversion may be required with effect from the beginning of the fourth business day following the demand. Four business days, no more — so make the demand the same day you learn of the seizure.
A final strict rule: one protection account per person. You must assure the bank you hold no other. Where someone breaches this, the creditor may ask the enforcement court to order that only the account the creditor names remains a protection account.
The protected amount — and the rule that saves months
§ 899(1) sets the protection: the debtor may dispose, until the end of the calendar month, of an amount determined by the monthly unseizable figure rounded up to the next full ten euros — and to that extent the balance is not caught by the seizure at all.
The same applies where an ordinary payment account was seized and is then converted before one month has passed since the transfer order was served on the third-party debtor. A slightly late conversion therefore does not forfeit that month’s protection — provided it stays inside the month.
Then comes the rule most people never hear, in paragraph 2: where the debtor has not disposed of the entire protected amount in a calendar month, the unused balance is not caught by the seizure in the three following calendar months — in addition to the protected balance of each of those months.
Whatever you save out of your monthly allowance therefore stays protected for three months. That opens a practical option: anyone expecting a larger payment — an insurance settlement, a service-charge refund — can deliberately leave part of their allowance untouched so it can absorb the sum later.
The accounting rule is stated too: dispositions are set off against the balance credited to the account first — oldest first.
The increase amounts: what is protected above the base
§ 902 adds increase amounts that are likewise not caught by the seizure. The ones that matter most here:
- the unseizable amounts where the debtor maintains one or more persons under a legal obligation;
- or receives cash benefits under SGB II or SGB XII for people living with them in a needs community whom they are not legally obliged to maintain;
- or receives cash benefits under the Asylum Seekers Benefits Act for people living with them in a joint household whom they are not legally obliged to maintain;
- benefits granted to the debtor themselves under SGB II, SGB XII or the Asylum Seekers Benefits Act, to the extent they exceed the basic protected amount;
- 🔴 child benefit and other statutory cash benefits for children — unless the seizure is for a maintenance claim of the very child for whom they are paid.
That last item matters a great deal: child benefit is protected by its own provision and does not sit inside the ordinary allowance. The protection does not apply where the seizing party is the child itself claiming maintenance — a logical exception.
These amounts are generally not granted automatically: they require proof submitted to the bank — a certificate from a competent body or a debt advice centre.
Practical steps
- Demand conversion the same day. The right is immediate, and waiting costs business days.
- Do not accept a refusal because the account is overdrawn. The statute expressly covers a negative balance.
- If a seizure has landed, count four business days. Conversion takes effect from the beginning of the fourth business day after your demand.
- Close any other protection account. Only one is allowed, and you must confirm this to the bank.
- Do not drain your monthly allowance needlessly. What is left carries three months and adds to each month’s protection.
- Submit proof of the increase amounts to the bank. Maintenance obligations, child benefit and SGB II/XII/AsylbLG benefits are protected above the base.
Official sources
§ 850k ZPO — the seizure-protection account · § 899 — the protected amount and carry-over · § 902 — the increase amounts
Please note: this page is general guidance, not legal advice. Salary thresholds are published annually in the Federal Gazette and change every January, and every application is assessed individually — consult an immigration lawyer or an advice centre before acting.
Frequently asked questions
Can the bank refuse to convert my account?
No. The statute gives every natural person the right to require it at any time, and it applies even to a negative balance. In return the account runs only on a credit basis.
My account has already been seized — is it too late?
No. Conversion can be demanded with effect from the beginning of the fourth business day after the demand. And if it happens within a month of the transfer order being served, that month’s protection applies too.
What happens to protected money I did not spend?
It is not caught by the seizure in the three following calendar months, on top of each month’s own protection. Dispositions are set off against the oldest credited balance.
Can child benefit be seized?
No. § 902 protects it as an increase amount, unless the seizure is for a maintenance claim of the very child for whom it is paid.
Can I hold two protection accounts?
No. Only one is permitted and you must confirm that to the bank; in breach, the enforcement court orders that only the account named by the creditor remains one.