Powers of attorney, wills, custody and letters to authorities in Austria
A power of attorney needs no form in Austria, but § 1008 ABGB decides what a general one covers: buying and selling, loans, collecting money, lawsuits and settlements need a power naming that kind of business, and a gift or accepting an inheritance one for the single transaction. So the general power of attorney lists each kind of business, and the special power names its own. For the land register a notary or a district court must certify the signature (§ 31 GBG). A lasting power of attorney (Vorsorgevollmacht) is made in person before a notary, a lawyer or an adult-protection association and registered (§§ 260–263 ABGB); the preparation sheet gets that appointment ready.
The documents are written in German, under Austrian law, and each one's page describes it in English. A typed will is valid if it is signed in the simultaneous presence of three witnesses, with a handwritten note that it holds the last will, and each witness signs with a handwritten note of being a witness (§ 579 ABGB); a will can never be made electronically. Spouses keep their property separate, and on divorce the marital assets and savings are divided, except what one brought in, inherited or was given (§ 82 EheG), which the inventory records. A divorce by consent requires a written divorce settlement (§ 55a(2) EheG).
Each parent with custody acts for the child alone (§ 167(1) ABGB); the travel consent still has lines for both, because borders abroad may ask, and the consent to a passport is the absent parent's. Applications to authorities may be made in writing, e-mail included, under § 13 AVG: the change of name to the district authority, and leaving a church, which anyone from the age of 14 declares alone. The request for information rests on the Freedom of Information Act in force since 1 September 2025. None of it is legal advice.
The documents
18 forms available to fill out or download.
Request for a formal decision under the Freedom of Information Act (Austria)
The second step when your request under Austria's Freedom of Information Act (IFG) was refused, answered only in part or not answered in time: the written request for a formal decision (Bescheid) on the refusal (§ 11(1) IFG). The authority must decide within two months, and only that decision can be appealed to the administrative court. With the date of your request, the reply and your reasons. In German, ready to sign and send to the same body, by e-mail too.
Application for an apostille (Austria)
The written request for an apostille on an Austrian public document — or for its legalisation for a country outside the Hague Convention. Who apostilles depends on who issued it: the Land (birth and marriage certificates, registration and criminal record certificates, for instance), the president of the regional court (court and notarial documents) or the Foreign Ministry. With the document, the country it is for and how it comes back. Where a Land has its own form, as Salzburg does, use that. In German, ready to print and sign.
Request for information under the Freedom of Information Act (Austria)
The written request for information under Austria's Freedom of Information Act (IFG), which since 1 September 2025 has replaced official secrecy and the old duty-to-inform acts: to an authority of the federation, a Land or a municipality, or to a company audited by the Court of Audit. With the exact information you want, the form you want it in, and a reminder of the four-week deadline (§ 8 IFG). The request is free. If an authority refuses the information, the next step is the request for a formal decision — a separate document; against a company, an application goes straight to the administrative court. In German.
Invitation letter for a Schengen visa (Austria)
The letter in which you invite a relative, friend or business contact from a country whose nationals need a visa to visit you in Austria, addressed to the Austrian embassy or consulate-general: details of the person invited and of you, the purpose and dates of the visit, accommodation and costs. It is neither an electronic guarantee of costs (EVE), which you make in person and free of charge at the police if needed, nor a notarially certified declaration of liability (Haftungserklärung) under Austria's Settlement and Residence Act (NAG). In German.
Declaration of leaving a church or religious society (Austria)
The written declaration for leaving a church in Austria (Kirchenaustritt), to the district authority (Bezirkshauptmannschaft) or Magistrat where you live, in Vienna the Magistratisches Bezirksamt: naming the church or religious society you are leaving, with your details and, if you wish, a request for confirmation. Leaving takes effect with the declaration to the authority, which informs the church. The declaration is free, and can also be made in person or on the form the authority provides free. From 14 you decide for yourself. In German, ready to print and sign.
Application for a residence registration certificate (Austria)
The written request to the registration authority (Meldebehörde) for a certificate of residence registration under Austria's Registration Act (§ 19 MeldeG) — for your current registrations or, as a historical certificate, all earlier ones too. The usual route is online with ID Austria or EU Login from the central register; this letter is for anyone who cannot use that, is asking from abroad, or needs registrations before 1 March 2002 confirmed. With your details, former names and addresses. In German, ready to print and sign.
Application to change a surname or first name (Austria)
Only for Austrian citizens, and for stateless people and refugees living in Austria: the written application for a change of name under Austria's Name Change Act (NÄG), to the district authority (Bezirkshauptmannschaft) or Magistrat where you live — in Vienna, municipal department MA 63: for the surname, the first name or both, with your details, the name you want and your reasons. In Austria, simply wishing for another surname is a ground of its own (§ 2(1) no. 11 NÄG). Returning to an earlier surname after a divorce is instead a declaration at the registry office. In German, ready to print and sign.
Preparation sheet for a lasting power of attorney (Austria)
Not a model lasting power (Vorsorgevollmacht), but the preparation for the appointment: since Austria’s Second Adult Protection Act, a Vorsorgevollmacht can only be made in person before a notary, a lawyer or an adult-protection association and is registered in the central register (ÖZVV) (§§ 260–263 ABGB, the Austrian Civil Code). The sheet records what will be discussed: whom you want to appoint, for which matters, your wishes, whether several act together or alone, and whether they may delegate. It has no legal effect — page 1 says so. In German.
Parents' agreement on custody, main residence and contact (Austria)
An agreement for separated or unmarried parents in Austria: who has custody (Obsorge), in whose household the children are mainly cared for, and the other parent's contact — regular contact, school holidays, public holidays, handovers, phone and video contact, travel. Under § 179 ABGB, the Austrian Civil Code, separated parents with joint custody conclude the agreement on the main residence before the court; this document prepares it. Unmarried parents can also establish joint custody in person before the registrar (§ 177 Abs 2 ABGB). In German.
Revocation of a power of attorney, with notice to third parties (Austria)
The letter revoking a power of attorney — at any time and without reasons (§ 1020 of the Austrian Civil Code, ABGB) — and asking for the document back. It is also the notice to banks, authorities and other parties: anyone who, through no fault of their own, does not know the power has ended is protected (§ 1026 ABGB), so each receives a copy. It takes effect on receipt — hand it over against a signature or send it by registered post. It cannot end a registered lasting power (Vorsorgevollmacht), which ends only on entry in the ÖZVV register. In German.
Divorce settlement for an uncontested divorce (Austria)
The written agreement without which an Austrian district court (Bezirksgericht) may not grant an uncontested divorce under § 55a EheG, the Austrian Marriage Act: custody and the children's main home, contact, child maintenance, maintenance between the spouses, the marital home, household contents, savings, debts and a balancing payment. No notarial deed is needed (§ 97 Abs 5 EheG). The spouses must have lived apart for at least six months and, with minor children, attended parental counselling. The courts have a free form for the application. Because of § 4 Abs 2 Z 1 SVG, print and sign by hand. In German.
Spouses' inventory of property brought into the marriage (Austria)
A record in which spouses in Austria set down what each brought into the marriage, inherited or was given by a third party — exactly what is not divided on divorce (§ 82 Abs 1 EheG, the Austrian Marriage Act). With an optional advance agreement on the other marital property in use, which needs only written form (§ 97 Abs 1 EheG). The marital home, savings and marriage contracts need a notarial deed and are not included. Because of § 4 Abs 2 Z 1 SVG the document is printed and signed by both spouses by hand. In German.
Cohabitation agreement for unmarried partners (Austria)
An agreement for partners living together in Austria without marriage or a registered partnership: the home and how long one partner has to move out after a separation, sharing household costs, a list of each partner's property and of what they own together, work in the other's business, dividing things up after a separation, and maintenance. No notarial deed is needed; the agreement deliberately contains no promise of a gift without handover (§ 1 Abs 1 lit d NotAktsG, the Austrian Notarial Deeds Act) and no transfer of land. With notes on a survivor's rights under the Austrian Civil Code (§§ 745, 748 ABGB). In German, signed by both.
Parental consent to a child's passport or ID card (Austria)
The written consent an Austrian passport office asks for when the child’s legal representative is not there: when a child of 14 or over applies for their own passport or ID card, or a child under 14 comes with grandparents or another adult. In Austria one parent holding custody (Obsorge) is enough, not both (§ 167 Abs 1 ABGB, the Austrian Civil Code). With the child’s and the parent’s details and the basis of custody. Shown in the original, with the parent’s photo ID in the original or a certified copy. In German.
Typed will signed before three witnesses (Austria)
A will for Austria that need not be handwritten (§ 579 ABGB, the Austrian Civil Code): heirs and shares, substitute heirs, legacies, revocation of earlier wills and other directions. You sign it in the presence of three witnesses present at the same time and add in your own hand that the document contains your last will; each witness signs on the same document with a handwritten note of being a witness. With the witness bars of §§ 587, 588 ABGB. A will cannot be made electronically (§ 4 Abs 2 SVG): print it on one sheet and sign by hand. In German.
General power of attorney naming the kinds of business (Austria)
A general power of attorney for Austria that names what § 1008 of the Austrian Civil Code (ABGB) demands: a general power covers selling and buying, loans, collecting money, lawsuits and settlements only if these kinds of business are expressly named. It lists them, with banking, public authorities and the tax office, lets you add exceptions and further kinds, and says which acts need a separate special power. For the land register: a certified signature and no more than three years old. It is not a lasting power (Vorsorgevollmacht), which is made before a notary, lawyer or adult-protection association. In German.
Special or limited power of attorney for one transaction (Austria)
A power of attorney for one transaction or one kind of business in Austria: a visit to an authority, collecting a document, registering a car, handing over a flat, a single sale. Under § 1008 of the Austrian Civil Code (ABGB) it must name the business precisely — for a gift or accepting an inheritance, the single transaction. Before authorities it proves the agent’s authority in writing (§ 10 AVG, § 83 BAO). With an expiry date, restrictions and room for certification if it is used in the land register. In German, ready to print and sign.
Travel consent for a minor travelling abroad (Austria)
A travel consent for a child leaving Austria without their parents, with one parent, with grandparents, on a school or club trip, or alone — in German and English. Austrian law does not require one, but border officers and airlines often ask for it, and some countries want the signatures certified. It sets out the child, the parents holding custody (Obsorge) and how to reach them, the journey and the accompanying adult. The Austrian motoring club ÖAMTC also offers free models. Fill in, print and sign — before a notary or at a district court (Bezirksgericht) if certification is needed.
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