Power of attorney for a single matter (Germany)
Published byDocMuse
This document is in German
The PDF you download is in German — that is the language it has to be filed in, so it is not translated. Everything on this page is here to tell you what it says.
A power of attorney for one matter in Germany — collecting a document, registering or deregistering a car, handing over a flat, attending an appointment at an office. With the principal and the agent, the matter described precisely, any limits, an expiry date, the return of the document and a specimen of the agent's signature. Under the German Civil Code (BGB) a power of attorney needs no particular form, but the land registry, the commercial register or disclaiming an inheritance require a publicly certified signature. In German; fill in, print, sign by hand and hand over the original.
What you fill in
The details the document asks for.
- Principal
- Principal's date of birth
- Principal's address
- Principal's ID card or passport number
- Agent
- Agent's date of birth
- Agent's address
- Agent's ID card or passport number
- Powers granted
- Limitations
- Valid until
- City
- Date
Preview
This document is produced for you. Your answers are typed into it and the finished PDF is yours to keep.
Common questions
- Does a power of attorney need a particular form in Germany?
- As a rule, no: a power of attorney need not take the form of the transaction it is for (§ 167(2) BGB). The exceptions: the land registry needs at least a publicly certified power (§ 29 of the Land Register Code, GBO), and so do filings with the commercial register (§ 12(1) HGB) and disclaiming an inheritance (§ 1945(3) BGB); founding a limited company follows § 2(2) GmbHG, and a power for a consumer loan must meet that loan's form rules (§ 492(4) BGB). Buying or selling land through an agent is a matter for a notary.
- Who certifies the signature on a German power of attorney when certification is required?
- Public certification (§ 129 BGB) is done by any notary; in Hesse also by the Ortsgerichte, and in Baden-Württemberg by the municipal Ratschreiber, though not for documents used abroad. Sign only in front of the certifier. A town hall's official certification under § 34 of the Administrative Procedure Act (VwVfG) is valid only for the authority it names and does not replace public certification; banks and the land registry refuse it. The adult-guardianship authority certifies only lasting powers of attorney and care directives.
- Why must the agent show the original of a German power of attorney?
- If the agent makes a unilateral declaration for you — a notice or a withdrawal, for instance — without presenting the original power of attorney, the recipient can reject it without delay; it is then void and cannot be cured afterwards (§ 174 BGB). A copy, fax or scan is not enough. So sign a separate original for each use, and have it returned once the matter is done (§ 175 BGB).
- How long does a German single-matter power of attorney last?
- Until the date you enter. It ends sooner once the matter is done or you revoke it, which you may do at any time (§ 168 BGB). Anyone who has been shown the document may, however, rely on it until it is returned or declared void (§ 172(2) BGB) — so ask for the original back after revoking it, and tell those it was shown to.
How you can sign this document
- Print it and sign by hand. The signature lines in the document are left blank on purpose — sign on them in ink.
- Sign it yourself with a qualified electronic signature. If you already hold a QES — Evrotrust, B-Trust, StampIT, ZealiD or any qualified provider on the EU Trusted List, on a card, a USB token, in a mobile app or in the cloud — our signing guide explains step by step how to sign this exact file without invalidating it. Step-by-step help, and a way to check it worked
DocMuse sells documents, not legal advice. Acceptance always depends on the recipient's rules and your local law.
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