Notaries –
Emergency preparedness

A sudden or age-related illness or accident can not only lead to significant changes in your general personal lifestyle. Illness and accidents can also mean that you are no longer able to manage your personal affairs (legally) yourself and are dependent on the assistance of others.

In such situations, the next of kin, spouse, or partner cannot automatically act and make decisions on behalf of the person affected. It is therefore advisable to make provisions for such cases. Above all, this can prevent other strangers from making decisions about your future well-being on their own.

We notaries prepare powers of attorney and other arrangements tailored to the specific individual case as a precaution for such emergencies. This ensures that the powers of attorney and other arrangements will be valid in an emergency.

Essentially, the following powers of attorney and instructions are available:

• General power of attorney,

• power of attorney for health care,

• guardianship order, and

• living will.

The advance directives are registered in the Central Advance Directive Register at the Federal Chamber of Notaries in Berlin so that they can be found and observed in the event of an emergency: The Central Advance Directive Register is now consulted more than 20,000 times a month by guardianship courts throughout Germany. More than 1.1 million advance directives are already registered there.