Germany: templates and forms

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.

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.

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.

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.

The notice of sale (Veräußerungsanzeige) by which a seller in Germany tells the vehicle registration office who the new keeper is: the buyer's name, date of birth and address, the vehicle, plate and VIN, the date and hour of handover, and confirmation that the registration certificate Parts I and II were handed over (§ 15 of the German Vehicle Registration Ordinance, FZV). The seller's motor vehicle tax ends only when it arrives (§ 5(5) KraftStG). Many registration offices also offer their own free form. In German, to print, sign and hand in on the day of sale.

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.

A German resignation letter (Eigenkündigung): ordinary notice ending your employment on the date you choose, or else on the next possible date, asking for confirmation of receipt, a full employment reference (qualifiziertes Arbeitszeugnis) and for remaining leave to be granted or paid out. Under § 623 of the German Civil Code (BGB), notice ending employment is valid only on paper signed by hand — e-mail, fax, scans and every other electronic form are void. In German, to print, sign and hand over with proof of delivery.

Your request to the German tax office (Finanzamt) to extend the deadline for an income tax, VAT or other tax return under § 109 of the German Fiscal Code (AO) — because of illness, missing papers or a move, for example. For 2025 returns filed without an adviser, the deadline was 31 July 2026. The letter gives the return, the year, the current and the requested deadline and the reason, and asks in the alternative for a backdated extension, so that no late-filing surcharge of at least €25 a month is charged. In German, to post, fax or send through ELSTER.

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.

A letter asking a German employer for a full employment reference (qualifiziertes Arbeitszeugnis) on leaving, or an interim reference (Zwischenzeugnis) while still employed — expressly covering performance and conduct, because without that request the employer owes only a basic reference stating the type and length of the work (§ 109 of the German Trade Regulation Act, GewO). It gives the job, the period of employment, the reason and a date by which the reference should be posted. No form is prescribed for the request. In German.

The letter a tenant in Germany uses to object to a landlord's ordinary notice — for own use, for example — and to demand that the tenancy continue, because moving out would be an unjustifiable hardship for the tenant or the household (§ 574 of the German Civil Code, BGB): old age, illness, pregnancy, children at school or no affordable replacement housing. Since 1 January 2025 text form is enough (§ 574b BGB); the objection must reach the landlord no later than two months before the tenancy ends. The letter gives the reasons and does not accept the notice. In German.

The letter a freelancer in Germany — a translator, architect, consultant, teacher or journalist, for example — sends to the tax office (Finanzamt) on giving up their self-employed profession. Section 138 of the German Fiscal Code (AO) requires the notice within one month, and there is no official form for it. It gives the tax number, the kind of work and its last day, says whether the practice is closed or sold, deals with the VAT pre-returns and asks for the advance payments to be adjusted. In German, to post or to send through ELSTER.

A landlord's ordinary notice in Germany ending a tenancy because the landlord, a family member or a member of the household needs the flat (§ 573(2) no. 2 of the German Civil Code, BGB). As § 573(3) BGB requires, the letter names the person who is to move in, their relationship to the landlord, where they live now and why they need the flat; it states the notice period by length of tenancy (three, six or nine months), objects to a tacit extension and tells the tenant about the right to object in text form (§ 574b BGB). Written form: print and sign by hand by every landlord. In German.