Contract: templates and forms
20 forms available to fill out or download.
Instalment payment agreement between individuals (Germany)
An agreement under German law in which a private creditor lets a debtor pay off an outstanding sum in monthly instalments — a private loan, a deposit or damage, for instance. It confirms the debt and sets the number, amount and due dates of the instalments, no interest while payments are on time, the whole balance falling due after two missed instalments, and default interest under § 288 of the German Civil Code (BGB). For private creditors only: where a business grants a consumer instalments, consumer-credit law may apply (§ 506 BGB). In German, to be signed by both.
GbR partnership agreement (Germany)
The partnership agreement for a German civil-law partnership (Gesellschaft bürgerlichen Rechts, GbR) under the law in force since 1 January 2024 (§§ 705 ff. of the German Civil Code, BGB, as reformed by the MoPeG), for two or three freelancers, self-employed people or a small team: name and seat, whether the GbR is entered in the partnership register as an eGbR, purpose, contributions and shares, management and representation, resolutions, profit and loss, notice, leaving, a partner's death, settlement and dissolution. No notary is needed for the agreement itself. In German.
Mutual non-disclosure agreement (Germany)
A mutual NDA under German law for two businesses or freelancers who exchange confidential information before working together: the purpose, what is and is not confidential, sharing only with staff and advisers, an express ban on reverse engineering the samples and prototypes handed over (§ 3(1) no. 2 of the German Trade Secrets Act, GeschGehG), return and deletion, duration, and a contractual penalty of your choice — set at the injured party's reasonable discretion subject to the court, a fixed sum, or none. Signing it also counts as a reasonable secrecy measure under the Act. In German.
Service contract between businesses — Dienstvertrag (Germany)
A contract between two businesses in Germany for ongoing or one-off services — consulting, IT support, marketing, bookkeeping, agency work — where the provider owes careful performance rather than a particular result (a Dienstvertrag under §§ 611 ff. of the German Civil Code, BGB). It covers the scope and what lies outside it, independent performance, term and notice, the fee with a payment deadline and the statutory consequences of late payment, re-performance, confidentiality, a data processing agreement under Art. 28 GDPR, rights in work results and a liability cap. In German.
Contract for work between businesses — Werkvertrag (Germany)
A contract between two businesses in Germany for a defined result — software, a website, an expert report, a concept, a repair or an installation — that the contractor answers for (a Werkvertrag under §§ 631 ff. of the German Civil Code, BGB). It includes the specification and agreed quality, a completion date, an acceptance procedure with the deadline of § 640(2) BGB, the fee falling due on acceptance, rights for defects, termination, usage rights in the work, confidentiality and a liability cap. Not for construction contracts, nor for making movable goods, which sales law governs. In German.
Out-of-court settlement of a money claim (Germany)
A settlement agreement under § 779 of the German Civil Code (BGB) in which a creditor and a debtor end a dispute over a money claim without going to court: the background, the settlement sum, payment in one sum or by instalments, what happens if a payment is missed (the rest falls due at once, or the original claim revives), the waiver of the rest, a full-and-final clause and costs. For disputes over unpaid invoices, loans, deposits or damage. In German, no set form — print, both sign, each keeps a copy.
Private loan agreement between individuals (Germany)
A loan agreement under German law for money lent between private individuals — friends, family or acquaintances. It sets out the amount, payment by bank transfer, the interest or an interest-free loan, repayment in one sum or in instalments, early repayment, default interest under § 288 of the German Civil Code (BGB) and the three months' notice of § 488 BGB where no date is fixed. For private lenders only: a business lending to a consumer falls under consumer-credit law. In German, no set form — print, both sign, each keeps a copy.
Managing director's service contract for a GmbH (Germany)
The service contract between a German GmbH or UG (haftungsbeschränkt) and its managing director (Geschäftsführer), separate from the appointment by shareholders' resolution. It covers duties and transactions needing the shareholders' consent, start and place of work, salary and variable pay, sick pay, holiday, a non-compete during the contract, confidentiality, termination and garden leave after removal from office. It records the director's shareholding and says when the director is insured as an employee: without shares always; a shareholder-director is self-employed only with a majority or a blocking minority over all company business. In German.
Freelance contract with grant of usage rights (Germany)
A contract between a business and a self-employed freelancer in Germany — in design, copywriting, programming, consulting or media, for example — granting usage rights in the work results under the German Copyright Act (UrhG). It describes genuinely independent work, without instructions on time, place and method and without integration into the client's organisation, and covers the fee, the small-business VAT rule, the artists' social levy, confidentiality and termination. It states the risk of disguised employment plainly: the facts decide, not the label (§ 7(1) SGB IV). With a choice on the status determination under § 7a SGB IV. In German.
Data processing agreement under Art. 28 GDPR (Germany)
The data processing agreement (Auftragsverarbeitungsvertrag, AVV) every business in Germany needs when a service provider processes personal data for it — hosting, cloud software, payroll, newsletters, IT support. It contains everything Art. 28(3) GDPR requires: subject-matter, duration, nature and purpose, types of data and data subjects, instructions, confidentiality, security, sub-processors, assistance, deletion or return, information and audits, with annexes for the technical and organisational measures and the sub-processors. Free models from supervisory authorities and the European Commission also exist. In German.
Private used car sale contract (Germany)
A contract for selling a used car or motorcycle between private individuals in Germany, under the German Civil Code (BGB). The exclusion of liability for defects is worded the way German courts uphold it: it does not cover fraud or a guarantee (§ 444 BGB), nor the seller's statements on mileage, accident damage, previous keepers and known defects, which stand in a section of their own. It also records the check of the registration certificate Part II, the date and hour of handover, retention of title, re-registration and the notice of sale. In German, for both parties to print and sign.
Cohabitation agreement for unmarried couples (Germany)
An agreement for an unmarried couple living together in Germany: who owns or rents the home and who moves out after a separation, how household costs are shared, a list of who owns what, how joint purchases and debts are divided if they split up, and pointers to a health-care power of attorney and separate wills. German law has no property regime for unmarried couples. This agreement needs no notary because it deliberately leaves out land and promises of gifts (§§ 311b and 518 of the German Civil Code, BGB). In German.
Contact arrangement for separated parents (Germany)
A written agreement between separated parents in Germany on the children's contact with the parent they do not live with: regular times, school holidays, public holidays and birthdays, pick-up and return, make-up dates, phone and video contact, information and trips abroad. Before you buy: a private contact agreement cannot be enforced in Germany. It becomes enforceable only when the family court approves it as a settlement (§ 156(2) of the Family Proceedings Act, FamFG); this agreement can serve as the basis for that, or for a settlement reached with the help of the youth welfare office (Jugendamt). In German.
Agreement to lend a car, with authorisation to drive (Germany)
An agreement for lending your car in Germany to someone else, such as family or friends, with an authorisation to drive it, including abroad. It records the check of the driving licence (§ 21 of the German Road Traffic Act, StVG), the insurance and whether the driver is covered, the period, purpose and permitted countries, and sets out who pays for fuel, tolls, fines, damage, the insurance excess and any loss of no-claims discount. The authorisation at the end, with a short English summary, serves as proof at checks. In German, to print and sign.
Employee confidentiality agreement (Germany)
A confidentiality agreement with an employee in Germany, in German, that protects trade secrets as one of the reasonable secrecy measures the German Trade Secrets Act (GeschGehG) requires: named kinds of confidential information, duties during the employment, a duty afterwards limited to those secrets and a set period, return of documents, and the statutory exceptions for whistleblowers. It leaves out the catch-all clause on all internal matters that the Federal Labour Court struck down in 2024, and any ban on discussing one's own pay.
Post-employment non-compete agreement (Germany)
An agreement barring an employee in Germany from competing after the job ends, in German, under §§ 74 ff. of the German Commercial Code (HGB): the barred activities, the area, a length of at most two years and the compensation of at least half the last pay without which the ban is not binding. With the offset of other earnings, the duty to report them and the employer's waiver under § 75a HGB. Written form: print it, both sign by hand, and the employee is handed an original signed by the employer.
Open-ended employment contract (Germany)
A permanent employment contract for full- or part-time work in Germany, in German, with every essential term the German Evidence Act (Nachweisgesetz, NachwG) requires: start, job, place of work, probation, hours and breaks, overtime, pay and when it is due, the minimum wage, leave, notice periods under § 622 of the German Civil Code (BGB), the written form of a dismissal and the deadline to sue, collective agreements, training and pension. Its time limit for claims leaves the minimum wage untouched and asks only for text form.
Termination agreement ending an employment relationship (Germany)
An agreement ending a German employment relationship by mutual consent (Aufhebungsvertrag), in German: end date, pay and garden leave, severance, remaining leave, a reference with an agreed grade, employment papers and a clean-break clause. Its preamble records the reason that decides whether unemployment benefit is blocked for 12 weeks (§ 159 SGB III), and it warns of that block and of the duty to register as a job-seeker. Under § 623 of the German Civil Code (BGB) it is valid only if printed and signed by hand by both sides: the electronic form is excluded.
Fixed-term employment contract (Germany)
A fixed-term employment contract under the German Part-Time and Fixed-Term Employment Act (TzBfG), in German: without an objective reason (up to two years) or with one, such as standing in for an absent employee, a temporary need or a trial. It carries every term the Nachweisgesetz requires, the minimum wage, leave, notice during the term and a time limit for claims that excludes the minimum wage. The fixed term must be in writing, signed by both before the first working day, or the contract counts as permanent.
Home office and mobile work agreement (Germany)
A supplement to a German employment contract on working from home and mobile work, in German: start and extent, a choice between mobile work and telework at a fixed home workstation under the German Workplaces Ordinance (ArbStättV), working time, availability and time recording, equipment and a cost allowance, data protection at home, health and safety, accident insurance, no work from abroad without a separate agreement, and ending the arrangement. German law gives no right to a home office, so it has to be agreed.