Church exit: All information at a glance
Leaving the church has several advantages and disadvantages. We gave you an overview in this practical tip!
Process: Church exit explained
If you want to leave the church, you must report it. We have summarized where and which documents you need:
- You first register personally with a notary or at the registry office of your place of residence with the intention of wanting to leave the church.
- You will pay a fee of 25 or 35 euros for leaving the church. The exit costs 25 euros, while a certificate for it costs 10 euros.
- Bring a valid ID or passport as proof of identity. If you are married or divorced, you also need your family book.
- The office then automatically informs the responsible tax office about your departure from the church.
- Your resignation will take effect on the first of the next month.
What Happens When Leaving the Church? The advantages and disadvantages
Those who leave the church have some advantages, but there may also be disadvantages. However, many of the disadvantages are more relevant if you consider leaving the church as a believer.
- Tax savings: After leaving the church, you save 8 or 9 percent of your income tax, which was previously collected as church tax. This saves you, for example, almost EUR 300 per year with a gross salary of EUR 28, 000.
- Question of conscience: The church earns many billions of euros a year from taxes. However, many church members are not satisfied with how the money is used. By leaving the church, you take a personal position on this - both as a believer and as an atheist.
- Baptism: Children whose parents both left the church can only be baptized under certain conditions. To do this, you need to find a Christian who will take the child into the Church and accompany it. You are then no longer entitled to be godfather to another child.
- Communion and Confirmation: If your child cannot be baptized due to a lack of godparents, there is also no possibility of communion and subsequent confirmation.
- Marriage: After leaving the church, you can marry in a civil registry office, but no longer.
- Termination in ecclesiastical institutions: If you are an employee of an ecclesiastical institution or your employer is under ecclesiastical sponsorship, you can be terminated by leaving the company.
- Funeral: If a pastor is to deliver the funeral speech, this must be paid by the relatives. For church members, however, this happens in vain.
Before you leave the church from a purely financial point of view, you save money in the household. In another article we have the 5 best tips for you to save money in the household.