Acknowledgement of debt (Germany)
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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 written acknowledgement under German law in which a debtor confirms owing a creditor a stated sum, with the reason for the debt, the due date or instalments, the creditor's account and an acceleration clause. It creates the duty to pay in its own right and restarts the limitation period. Important: it is valid only if printed on paper and signed by the debtor by hand — § 781 of the German Civil Code (BGB) excludes the electronic form, so an e-mail, a scan or any electronic version is void. In German.
What you fill in
The details the document asks for.
- Debtor
- Debtor's date of birth
- Debtor's address
- Creditor
- Creditor's address
- Amount
- Amount in words
- Basis of the obligation
- Payment terms
- IBAN
- 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
- Why must an acknowledgement of debt in Germany be signed by hand on paper?
- Because the law says so: an acknowledgement that creates the debt in its own right is valid only in written form, and the electronic form is expressly excluded (§ 781 BGB, second sentence). Print it, sign it by hand and give the creditor the original; an e-mail, a scan, a fax or a digitally signed file will not do. The exceptions: a merchant for whom it is a commercial transaction (§ 350 of the Commercial Code, HGB), and an acknowledgement given in a settlement or on a statement of account (§ 782 BGB).
- Can the creditor enforce a German acknowledgement of debt straight away?
- No. This acknowledgement is strong evidence, but not an enforceable title. A creditor can enforce without a judgment only from a notarial deed in which the debtor submits to immediate enforcement (§ 794(1) no. 5 of the Code of Civil Procedure, ZPO); a notary drafts and records that version, and it is not available here. If the debtor does not pay, the creditor applies for a payment order (Mahnbescheid) or sues, relying on the acknowledgement.
- How does an acknowledgement of debt affect limitation in Germany?
- With the acknowledgement the limitation period starts again, from the day of the acknowledgement and not from the end of the year (§ 212(1) no. 1 BGB). A part-payment or a payment of interest by the debtor has the same effect. For a creditor, an acknowledgement is therefore often the simplest way to secure a claim that would soon become time-barred; the ordinary limitation period is three years (§ 195 BGB).
- What should a debtor in Germany check before signing an acknowledgement of debt?
- This acknowledgement creates the duty to pay in its own right: the creditor can rely on the paper without proving the original reason for the debt, and objections to the claim are then hard to pursue. So sign it only if you really owe the sum, and check any interest and costs included in it. Someone who only wants to confirm that a particular claim exists can do so informally; that is a merely confirmatory acknowledgement, outside § 781 BGB.
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
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