Overview
- After a Sparkasse reported large balances on savings passbooks in the names of a recipient and his children, the local Jobcenter halted payments and sought to claw back more than €12,000.
- The Landessozialgericht Berlin-Brandenburg (case L 18 AS 447/23) annulled the recovery and repayment notices, meaning the family keeps its benefits and the agency recovers nothing.
- The court found the passbooks were opened and always held by the father and grandfather, and the named beneficiaries never possessed a book, knew the balances, or could withdraw funds.
- Citing § 808 BGB, the ruling emphasized that a savings book is an instrument payable to the bearer, making physical possession—not the listed name—decisive for access.
- The judges rejected arguments that the beneficiary must revoke powers of attorney or sue relatives, and they distinguished genuine lack of access from deliberate concealment, which remains punishable.