Can a person who just came over to marry a German citizen get benefits

Hello Mendria and welcome to expat-blog,

I hope you'll get some answers soon

Melissa

For people who need a visa to settle in Germany (i.e. non-EU citizens), issuance of this visa is tied to not being a burden to the state. For a fiancee or spouse visa this means the German partner has to show sufficient funds and job to feed both.
Anybody who is already in Germany and falls below certain financial thresholds can apply for government assistance. There are many different schemes with various conditions and strings attached (e.g. some are time-limited, or must be re-paid if you ever have money again).
Your friend's cousin is probably EU citizen, then the scenario you mentioned is possible (with strings attached, as I said).

Maybe I should add... yes, in Germany, you can get financial assistance. Also for your spouse/ partner (their income is combined in calculations), as long as your main residence is in Germany.
But that you get money for "not working" is only half the truth.
The financial aid is thought to help you during the time you lost your job and are searching for a new job. It is meant to be temporarily. However, certain conditions also apply for it. The ministry is called an agency, and thats exactly what they do; to act as an agent to get you into work as soon as possible. By receiving their money, you obligate to take ANY kind of job they mediate to you.
They will try to find a job that suits to your working skills, but basically, you could end up working in a storage house, do seasonal work in agriculture and forestry, or even clean the toilet at the public train station (I am quite sure they keep these nasty tasks for those folks who obviously dont want to work at all). I think you can only reject their job offer once or twice for special reasons.
Of course they can't force you to go to work, but then they will immediatelly stop their payments.
It is also quite possible, especially for foreigners, you will get stigmatized by society or even your employer for relying on wellfare.
I personally would prefer to work as a waiter with actually less money than I could receive by the governmental assistance than just dealing with the bothersome paperwork
I hope I could bring some light into this issue!

Best wishes,
Simon