Living wills in Germany — information in English

No one shall be given any treatment against her/his will.

In Germany, self-determination is a valuable asset being respected in hospitals and care facilities. Yet, to ensure that doctors and nurses always act in your favour, it’s important to declare your will in a legally binding way for all cases in good time.

If someone is in a coma or suffers from dementia, it is too late to do this. On this occasion, relatives and doctors will have to decide according to the presumed will — and often prefer to play it safe in case of uncertainty. This will become a burdening situation for all. 

We offer you legally binding living wills, regardless of your world view, age or origin. In a living will, you can specify treatment prohibitions and wishes for situations in which you are unable to consent or express your will.

Our expertise in this field is unique in Germany. 

For over 25 years we have been drawing up individual living wills on the basis of completed questionnaires. We find it important that you take your time to think your way through various situations. We offer a lot of background information and are at your disposal free of charge by phone.

Even German-speaking persons often find it difficult to enter into the complex medical matters. Wordings must comply with legal requirements. Therefore, we try to give colloquial explanations. Of course, legally binding declarations in Germany will have to be written in German. 

So if you speak English better than German…

…we offer an opportunity to understand our materials more easily on the basis of English translations.

Your completed questionnaires will be implemented into a document becoming legally valid right after your final signature. Only then we charge a fee. Our Standard Living Will covers all the essentials. For individual special demands, we offer an extended Optimal Living Will as an alternative. A filing of your documents with us will be possible, too. And in any case, you can make use of our free Proxy Documents for persons of trust.

In case of any questions, please, do not hesitate to contact us.
We wish you all the best!

The team of the Zentralstelle Patientenverfügung 
(Central Office for Living Wills of the Humanist Association of Germany, Berlin-Brandenburg)