Parental authority for a child's care and 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 authority parents in Germany give grandparents, a babysitter, a childminder or the leader of a school trip to look after their child for a set period, take the child to the doctor and consent to treatment — or that one parent gives the other in advance. Choose routine treatment and emergencies, emergencies only, or a named treatment. With the health insurer, health notes and a release from medical confidentiality. Parental responsibility stays with the parents. In German, under the German Civil Code (BGB); fill in, print and have both holders of parental responsibility sign.
What you fill in
The details the document asks for.
- Child
- Child's date of birth
- Child's health insurer
- Child's health insurance number
- Parent
- Parent's date of birth
- Parent's address
- Phone
- Other parent
- Other parent's date of birth
- Other parent's address
- Other parent's phone
- Parental responsibility
- Agent
- Agent's date of birth
- Agent's address
- Agent's phone
- Agent's ID card or passport number
- Relationship
- Period from
- Period to
- Treatment the authorised person may consent to
- Treatment the authority covers (if chosen)
- Child's chronic conditions, allergies, medicines and vaccinations
- 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 the German authority for a child's care transfer parental responsibility?
- No. Parental responsibility stays with the parents; they can let another person exercise it in defined matters for a set time and authorise that person to act (§§ 164 ff. and 167 of the German Civil Code, BGB). The authority can be withdrawn at any time. Decisions of considerable importance, such as planned surgery or a change of school, remain the parents' own unless the authority expressly says otherwise.
- Do both parents have to sign the German authority for a child's treatment?
- Where parental responsibility is joint, both parents in principle consent to a child's medical treatment. Under a Federal Court of Justice ruling (VI ZR 288/87), a doctor may assume in routine cases that the parent present acts for both, asks for more serious procedures, and needs both parents' agreement for grave decisions. So both sign — or one parent authorises the other, leaving parent 2 blank and naming the other parent in section 3. A parent with sole responsibility encloses proof of it.
- May the person looking after a child in Germany act without the parents in an emergency?
- Yes, within this authority. If consent to urgent treatment cannot be obtained in time, a doctor in Germany may treat without it in line with the patient's presumed wishes (§ 630d(4) BGB). With the authority, though, the person looking after the child can consent and receive information as the person entitled to do so (§ 630d(1) BGB), and tells the parents without delay.
- Does the German authority for a child's treatment need a certified signature?
- No. German law sets no form for an authority (§ 167(2) BGB). Whether a practice or hospital wants more, such as copies of the parents' ID, is up to it, so enclose copies. For a stay abroad a translation or certification may be useful: any notary certifies a signature, and in Hesse so does the local Ortsgericht. The adult-guardianship authority (Betreuungsbehörde) certifies only lasting powers of attorney and care directives, not this document.
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.
Related documents
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The letter to a doctor's practice, hospital or therapist in Germany asking to inspect your treatment record (Behandlungsakte, formerly Patientenakte) and for a complete copy. It relies on § 630g of the German Civil Code (BGB) as in force since 6 February 2026 — the first copy is free, electronic ones included — and on Art. 15 GDPR with its one-month deadline. You choose a copy, or inspection and a copy, and how it is delivered. In German. Not for the electronic patient file (ePA) kept through the health insurer.
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