Living will: advance decisions on medical treatment (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.
The German Federal Ministry of Justice offers free text modules for a living will (Patientenverfügung); this document is our own wording under § 1827 of the German Civil Code (BGB). You set out in which situations your decisions apply — the dying phase, terminal illness, severe brain damage, advanced dementia — and decide on each measure separately: life-sustaining treatment, pain relief, artificial nutrition and hydration, resuscitation, ventilation, dialysis, antibiotics, blood and organ donation. Situations and measures are named specifically, as the Federal Court of Justice requires. In German, signed by hand; no notary.
What you fill in
The details the document asks for.
- Declarant
- Declarant's date of birth
- Declarant's home address
- Situation: the dying phase
- Situation: incurable illness at its final stage
- Situation: severe brain damage
- Situation: advanced dementia
- Life-sustaining treatment
- Pain and symptom relief
- Artificial nutrition
- Artificial hydration
- Resuscitation
- Mechanical ventilation
- Dialysis
- Antibiotics
- Blood and blood products
- Organ donation
- What matters to me in life and dying (values, wishes)
- People to be heard before decisions
- Attorney or preferred carer, if any
- 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
- Are there free text modules for a living will in Germany?
- Yes. The German Federal Ministry of Justice offers free text modules from which you can assemble a living will, and the Bavarian Ministry of Justice, among others, publishes a brochure with forms. This document is our own wording: for four described situations you choose whether your decisions apply, and for each measure — from artificial nutrition to resuscitation — you decide whether you want it or refuse it.
- How specific must a living will be to bind doctors in Germany?
- Specific enough to show which treatment you want or refuse in which situation. The Federal Court of Justice held that wishing for “no life-sustaining measures” is not enough on its own (decision of 6 July 2016, XII ZB 61/16). What is needed is particular medical measures, or a sufficiently precise description of the illnesses and treatment situations in which your decisions apply (decisions of 8 February 2017, XII ZB 604/15, and 14 November 2018, XII ZB 107/18). This document therefore names both.
- Does a German living will need a notary or a doctor's signature?
- No. It must be in writing and signed by you by hand (§ 1827(1) BGB); it needs no notary and no certification. Nobody may make it a condition of a contract, such as a place in a care home (§ 1827(5) BGB). Talking it through with your GP still makes sense: they can explain what the measures mean and, if you wish, confirm that you had capacity when you wrote it. You can register it in the central register on its own or with a power of attorney.
- How do I revoke or change a living will in Germany?
- At any time and in any form, even orally (§ 1827(1), third sentence, BGB). So that nobody follows an outdated version, destroy old copies, make a new one and tell your family and your attorney. It is wise to reread the document every year or two and sign it again with a new date; lines are provided at the end for this. It is not compulsory — an older living will stays valid as long as you have not revoked it.
- Who makes sure a living will is followed in Germany?
- Your attorney or court-appointed carer checks whether your decisions fit the current situation and then gives effect to them (§ 1827(1) and (6) BGB). They discuss it with the treating doctor, and close relatives and people you trust should be heard (§ 1828 BGB). If doctor and representative agree that a decision matches your will, no approval from the guardianship court is needed (§ 1829(4) BGB). That is why it makes sense to combine a living will with a lasting power of attorney and to say where the original is kept.
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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