Must a German Vorsorgevollmacht be certified or notarially recorded?

What is a Vorsorgevollmacht?

The statute uses the term in the heading of § 1820 BGB. It refers to a document in which an adult has authorised another person to take care of his or her affairs. A power of attorney is granted by declaration to the person to be authorised or to the third party with whom the representation is to take place (§ 167(1) BGB).

Three distinctions connected with the form:

• Custodianship (Betreuung): A custodian may only be appointed if this is necessary, and the appointment is in particular not necessary insofar as the affairs can be taken care of equally well by an authorised representative who is not one of the persons described in § 1816(6) BGB (§ 1814(3) BGB).
• Spouses: The statutory right of representation under § 1358 BGB concerns only matters of health care and therefore does not take the place of a power of attorney for land register, banking or company transactions.
• Advance healthcare directive (Patientenverfügung): It is a separate written determination within the meaning of § 1827(1) BGB and not an authorisation of another person.

Details on these three points and on how to organise the documents can be found in the article Setting up an emergency folder.

For the Hartmann family: The power of attorney is Klaus's declaration that Julia may act for him. Whether a custodianship then becomes unnecessary depends, among other things, on whether Julia can take care of his affairs equally well and is not one of the persons described in § 1816(6) BGB.

Does a Vorsorgevollmacht have to be certified?

The starting point is § 167(2) BGB: the declaration does not require the form that is prescribed for the legal transaction to which the power of attorney relates. The provisions evaluated here contain no rule requiring certification or notarial recording for every Vorsorgevollmacht.

An express form requirement is contained in § 1820(2) BGB. The following measures of an authorised representative require that the power of attorney has been granted in writing and expressly covers these measures:

1. consent, its revocation, or refusal of consent to measures under § 1829(1) sentence 1 and (2) BGB,
2. placement under § 1831 BGB and consent to measures under § 1831(4) BGB,
3. consent to a coercive medical measure under § 1832 BGB and transfer under § 1832(4) BGB.

What the statute generally understands by written form is governed by § 126 BGB:

• Signature: Where written form is prescribed by statute, the document must be signed by the issuer personally with his or her name signature or by means of a notarially certified hand mark (subsection (1)).
• Electronic form: Written form may be replaced by electronic form unless the statute provides otherwise (subsection (3)).
• Certified electronic declaration: A publicly certified declaration under § 129(1) sentence 1 no. 2 BGB or a declaration under § 129(3) BGB is also deemed to be a declaration in written form (subsection (4)).
• Notarial recording: Written form is replaced by notarial recording (subsection (5)).

Whether § 1820(2) BGB, with "granted in writing" (schriftlich erteilt), means exactly this form and whether the statute provides otherwise for this power of attorney within the meaning of subsection (3) remains an open question.

What lies behind the three groups of cases: § 1829 BGB concerns examinations of the state of health, medical treatments and medical interventions where there is a well-founded risk that the person concerned will die as a result of the measure or suffer serious and long-lasting damage to health. It also concerns refusal of consent and revocation of consent where the measure is medically indicated and this risk exists because the measure is not carried out or is discontinued. § 1831 BGB concerns placement involving deprivation of liberty and cases in which a person staying in a hospital, a care home or another institution is to be deprived of liberty over a longer period or regularly by mechanical devices, medication or in another way. § 1832 BGB governs coercive medical measures.

For authorised representatives, each of these provisions applies accordingly in accordance with § 1820(2) BGB (in each case subsection (5)), including their requirements for court approval:

• § 1829 BGB: Consent, refusal of consent and revocation require the approval of the custodianship court under the conditions of subsections (1) and (2). Without approval, a measure under subsection (1) may only be carried out if delay entails danger. Approval is not required if the representative and the treating physician agree that the decision corresponds to the will established under § 1827 BGB (subsection (4)).
• § 1831 BGB: Placement is only permissible with the approval of the custodianship court; without it only if delay entails danger, and the approval must then be obtained without undue delay (subsection (2)). This applies accordingly to measures under subsection (4).
• § 1832 BGB: Consent to the coercive medical measure requires the approval of the custodianship court (subsection (2)).

For the Hartmann family: If Julia is also to decide on such measures, Klaus must grant the power of attorney in writing and expressly include these measures in it. That alone is not enough in every case: where the statute requires approval by the custodianship court, Julia needs it too. For his assets, § 1820(2) prescribes no form.

Florian Enders on the form of a precautionary power of attorney

Certification or notarial recording: how do the forms differ?

Public certification by a notary

§ 129 BGB describes what public certification (öffentliche Beglaubigung) looks like where a statute prescribes it for a declaration. Whether this is the case for a Vorsorgevollmacht is not governed by § 129 itself. Where public certification is prescribed, the following applies:

• In writing: The declaration is drawn up in writing, and a notary certifies the signature of the declaring person (subsection (1) sentence 1 no. 1). A written declaration signed by means of a notarially certified hand mark also meets this requirement (subsection (2)).
• Electronic: The declaration is drawn up in electronic form, and a notary certifies the qualified electronic signature of the declaring person (subsection (1) sentence 1 no. 2). In addition, a declaration in an electronic document bearing a notarially certified handwritten electronic name signature or a notarially certified handwritten electronic hand mark is deemed publicly certified (subsection (3)).
• Restriction: The relevant statute may provide that a declaration can only be publicly certified in writing or only electronically (subsection (1) sentence 2).

On the procedure at the notary: the notary should only certify a signature if it is executed or acknowledged in his or her presence. The notary need only examine the document as to whether there are grounds for refusing to act in an official capacity. The certification note must also identify the person who executed or acknowledged the signature, and should state whether the signature was executed or acknowledged before the notary (§ 40(1) to (3) BeurkG). This applies accordingly to hand marks (§ 40(6) BeurkG).

Under § 40(4) BeurkG, § 10(1), (2) and (3) sentence 1 BeurkG applies accordingly: the notary should obtain certainty as to the identity of the parties, the person should be described so precisely that doubts and confusion are excluded, and it should be apparent whether the notary knows the parties or how he or she obtained certainty as to their identity. § 40 BeurkG does not refer to § 11 BeurkG on legal capacity. Whether and how legal capacity is established in the case of a mere certification of a signature therefore remains an open question.

Certification by an authority under § 7 BtOG

The authorised official at the authority is also empowered to publicly certify signatures or hand marks on powers of attorney, insofar as these are granted by natural persons (§ 7 BtOG). Limits apply:

• The power of attorney must be granted for the purpose of avoiding the appointment of a custodian.
• The official does not certify signatures or hand marks without accompanying text, nor where he or she is responsible for representing a party in the matter.
• The competence of notaries, other persons or other bodies for public notarial recordings and certifications remains unaffected.

The official version of § 7 BtOG carries the footnote "Zur Anwendung vgl. § 34" (on application, see § 34). The official wording of § 34 BtOG is not evaluated here. This article therefore does not answer for which certifications this gives rise to special rules.

Notarial recording

Public certification is replaced by notarial recording (§ 129(4) BGB), as is written form insofar as a statute prescribes it (§ 126(5) BGB). For notarial recording, § 11 BeurkG governs findings on legal capacity: if, in the notary's conviction, a party lacks the required legal capacity, the recording should be refused. The notary should record doubts about it in the record (Niederschrift). If a party is seriously ill, this should be noted in the record, stating what findings the notary has made on legal capacity. How the proceedings and the record take place in detail is not evaluated here.

§ 128 BGB does not help with the power of attorney. It only provides that, for a contract requiring notarial recording, the offer and the acceptance may be recorded one after the other. A power of attorney, by contrast, is granted by declaration (§ 167(1) BGB).

The forms at a glance

For the Hartmann family: Klaus now knows how the appointments differ. With certification, the notary certifies his signature; the notary should obtain certainty as to his identity and need only examine the document for grounds for refusal. With notarial recording, the notary should refuse if, in his or her conviction, the required legal capacity is lacking, and should record doubts about it in the record.

House, accounts, company: where the form counts in an emergency

Land register

§ 29(1) GBO contains two levels of proof:

• Sentence 1: An entry should only be made if the consent to registration or the other declarations required for the entry are proven by public or publicly certified documents.
• Sentence 2: Other prerequisites for the entry require proof by public documents, insofar as they are not obvious to the land registry.

This is as far as the wording goes: if the power of attorney with which an authorised representative makes such a declaration falls under one of the two sentences, the provision in each case does not mention a merely private written document for it; for sentence 2 this applies only insofar as the prerequisite is not obvious to the land registry. It remains open whether, and under which of the two sentences, the power of attorney falls and whether "public documents" (öffentliche Urkunden) in sentence 2 also include publicly certified documents. The wording does not give a conclusive answer on the required form.

For the property contract, the following applies: a contract by which one party undertakes to transfer or acquire ownership of a plot of land requires notarial recording (§ 311b(1) sentence 1 BGB). According to the wording of § 167(2) BGB, the power of attorney for it does not require the same form. Whether case law makes exceptions to this is not evaluated here.

Bank and company

Which form banks accept for a Vorsorgevollmacht is not answered by the provisions evaluated. Equally open are the relationship to a commercial power of attorney (Prokura) and the question of what a partnership agreement or articles of association provide for representation in exercising shareholder rights.

For the Hartmann family: Because § 29 GBO does not mention a merely private written document at either level, Klaus takes three questions to the notary appointment. Which form does the land registry require for Julia's power of attorney for the apartment building? Which form does his bank accept? What do the articles of association of the GmbH provide on representation?

What applies to the power of attorney document?

If the principal has handed the representative a power of attorney document (Vollmachtsurkunde) and the representative presents it to a third party, this is equivalent to a special notification of the authorisation (§ 172(1) BGB). The power of representation then continues until the document is returned to the principal or declared invalid (subsection (2)). This does not apply if the third party knows or ought to know, when the legal transaction is carried out, that the power of representation has expired (§ 173 BGB).

The return is governed by § 175 BGB: after the power of attorney has expired, the authorised representative must return the document to the principal; he or she has no right of retention. The power of attorney is revocable even if the underlying legal relationship continues, unless that relationship provides otherwise (§ 168 sentence 2 BGB).

And after death? The expiry of the power of attorney is determined by the legal relationship on which its grant is based (§ 168 sentence 1 BGB), and a mandate (Auftrag) does not, in case of doubt, expire on the death or the onset of legal incapacity of the mandator (§ 672 sentence 1 BGB). Whether this applies to a particular power of attorney, whether the chosen form changes anything about it and whether a bank accepts the power of attorney instead of proof of inheritance is open; on proof of inheritance there is the article Applying for a certificate of inheritance, and on organising the documents the article Setting up an emergency folder.

For the Hartmann family: Julia keeps the document carefully. If the power of attorney expires, for example through revocation, Julia must return the document. Until it is returned or declared invalid, the power of representation may continue towards a third party to whom Julia presents the document, as long as that third party neither knows nor ought to know of the expiry.

What determines the costs?

For the notarial recording of a power of attorney, § 98 GNotKG determines the transaction value:

• Power of attorney to conclude a specific legal transaction: half the transaction value for the recording of the transaction to which the power of attorney relates (subsection (1)). For powers of attorney based on a present or future co-entitlement, this value is reduced to the fraction corresponding to the share of the co-entitlement (subsection (2)).
• General power of attorney: at reasonable discretion. The scope of the power of attorney and the assets of the principal are to be taken into account appropriately. The value may not exceed half the assets of the person instructing (Auftraggeber) (subsection (3)). Subsection (3) also sets a fallback value where there are insufficient indications, and subsection (4) a cap for all cases.
• Revocation: these rules apply accordingly to the revocation of a power of attorney (subsection (5)).

Whether a Vorsorgevollmacht is a general power of attorney in this sense is open here. § 98 GNotKG only refers to notarial recording; which provisions determine the transaction value for a mere certification of a signature by a notary is not evaluated here. Where fees are based on the transaction value, their amount is determined according to Table A or Table B (§ 34(1) GNotKG). Whether this applies to the notarial recording or certification of a Vorsorgevollmacht, which table applies and at what fee rate is open, because the schedule of costs (Anlage 1 GNotKG) is not evaluated here. That is why this article states no amount for the notary.

It is different for certification by the authorised official at the authority: for each certification under § 7(1) sentence 1 BtOG, a fee of 10 euros is charged. Expenses are not charged separately, and for reasons of equity the fee may be waived in the individual case (§ 7(4) BtOG). The state governments may regulate fees and expenses differently by statutory instrument (subsection (5)). Whether your federal state has made use of this and what the application provision § 34 BtOG means for § 7 BtOG is not checked here.

For the Hartmann family: If Klaus has the power of attorney notarially recorded and it is assessed as a general power of attorney, its scope and his assets feed into the transaction value. He asks the notary for the amount for the chosen form before the appointment.

Step by step: from draft to safekeeping

1. Define the scope: whom you authorise and for which areas, for example assets, real estate, shareholder rights and health. If measures under § 1820(2) BGB are to be covered, include them expressly. The power of attorney does not replace any approval by the custodianship court that §§ 1829, 1831 or 1832 BGB provide for.
2. Draw up the draft: for the measures under § 1820(2) BGB, granting in writing is a prerequisite. Public certification requires a declaration drawn up in writing or electronically, signed with a signature or hand mark or electronically with one of the means named in § 129 BGB.
3. Choose the form: written form, certification by a notary, certification by the authorised official at an authority under the conditions of § 7 BtOG, or notarial recording. You take the open questions on the land register, bank and company to the appointment.
4. Attend the appointment: for certification, you sign before the notary or acknowledge your signature; the notary should obtain certainty as to your identity. For notarial recording, a record is drawn up.
5. Hand over the document or arrange safekeeping: decide whether the authorised representative receives the document. The consequences under §§ 172, 173 and 175 BGB are set out in the section on the power of attorney document.
6. Register: the Federal Chamber of Notaries (Bundesnotarkammer) keeps a Central Register of Precautionary Instruments (Zentrales Vorsorgeregister), which covers, among other things, Vorsorgevollmachten (§ 78a(1) BNotO).
7. Keep it findable: record where the original is kept and inform the authorised representative. How to record this in the folder is shown in the article Setting up an emergency folder.

Frequently asked questions

Is a self-signed power of attorney without a notary sufficient?

The provisions evaluated contain no rule that generally requires certification or notarial recording (§ 167(2) BGB). For the measures under § 1820(2) BGB, the power of attorney must be granted in writing and expressly cover these measures; any approval by the custodianship court provided for by statute is still required. For entries in the land register, § 29(1) GBO does not mention a merely private written document; whether it covers the power of attorney itself is open, as is what banks require.

Does notarial recording replace certification?

Yes. Public certification is replaced by notarial recording (§ 129(4) BGB). Written form is also replaced by notarial recording, insofar as a statute prescribes it (§ 126(5) BGB).

Can an authority also certify the signature?

Under § 7 BtOG, yes, if the power of attorney is granted by a natural person for the purpose of avoiding the appointment of a custodian, the signature or hand mark is not without accompanying text and the official is not responsible for representing a party in the matter. The official footnote refers, for the application of § 7, to § 34 BtOG, which is not evaluated here.

Does the notary examine legal capacity?

For notarial recording, § 11 BeurkG provides: if, in the notary's conviction, the required legal capacity is lacking, the notary should refuse the recording; doubts should be recorded in the record. For a mere certification of a signature, § 40(4) BeurkG refers only to § 10(1), (2) and (3) sentence 1 BeurkG, that is, to certainty as to the person, not to § 11. Whether a finding on legal capacity is made there remains open.

Sources, assumptions and open questions

• Sources: §§ 126, 128, 129, 167, 168, 172, 173, 175, 311b, 672, 1358, 1814, 1816, 1820, 1827, 1829, 1831 and 1832 BGB; §§ 10, 11 and 40 BeurkG; § 7 BtOG; § 29 GBO; § 78a BNotO; §§ 34 and 98 GNotKG. Official versions on gesetze-im-internet.de, retrieved on 26 October 2026.
• Case law: not evaluated. The article relies on no decision.
• Assumptions: German law in its current version, the principal is an adult natural person, no foreign element. The Hartmann family case is entirely fictional.
• Open and not answered here:
  • whether the power of attorney falls under § 29(1) sentence 1 or sentence 2 GBO or under neither, and whether "public documents" in sentence 2 include publicly certified documents,
  • whether case law makes exceptions to § 167(2) BGB, for example for property transactions under § 311b BGB,
  • which form banks accept; the relationship to a Prokura; what partnership agreements or articles of association provide on representation,
  • whether "granted in writing" in § 1820(2) BGB means the written form of § 126 BGB and whether the statute provides otherwise there within the meaning of § 126(3) BGB; the details of electronic form are not evaluated here,
  • whether and how legal capacity is established in the case of a mere certification of a signature,
  • how the notarial recording proceedings and the record take place in detail,
  • what the application provision § 34 BtOG, to which the official footnote to § 7 BtOG refers, means for certification by the authority, in particular for the rule in § 7(1) sentence 2 BtOG on the effect of the certification on the death of the principal; § 34 BtOG has not been officially evaluated here,
  • which authority is competent for certification under § 7 BtOG and whether the relevant federal state has regulated different fees under § 7(5) BtOG,
  • which legal relationship underlies a Vorsorgevollmacht, whether it applies beyond death, whether the chosen form changes anything about this and whether a bank accepts it instead of proof of inheritance,
  • how a power of attorney document is declared invalid,
  • whether a Vorsorgevollmacht is a general power of attorney under § 98(3) GNotKG; which provisions determine the transaction value of a certification of a signature by a notary; whether the fees are based on the transaction value, which table and which fee rate apply (Anlage 1 GNotKG),
  • procedure, the statutory instrument under § 78a(3) BNotO and the fees of the Central Register of Precautionary Instruments,
  • § 1832 BGB: according to the official footnote, subsection (1) sentence 1 no. 7 is incompatible with Art. 2(2) sentence 1 alternative 2 GG (Basic Law), as set out in the operative provisions of a decision of the Federal Constitutional Court. The previous law continues to apply until new legislation enters into force, which the legislature must enact by the end of 31 December 2026 at the latest. The article does not set out the details,
  • administrative instructions and commentary literature.
• Limits of advice: This article reproduces the statutory wording in general terms. It does not replace individual legal or tax advice and does not promise any particular legal consequence.

If you would like to put your advance planning into context

Real estate, company shares and several family members: how a Vorsorgevollmacht fits into your asset and succession planning depends on details that a general article cannot clarify. What to do after a death is covered in the articles What to do when someone dies and Inheritance: steps and deadlines. Further articles can be found in the topic area Inheritance: first steps.

If needed, arrange an initial consultation: without obligation, confidential, on an equal footing.