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Powers of Attorney & Advance Healthcare Directives

Plan ahead. Stay in control. Relieve your loved ones.
Powers of Attorney & Advance Healthcare Directives
Plan ahead. Stay in control. Relieve your loved ones.

Powers of Attorney & Advance Healthcare Directives
for Business Owners and Individuals

Most people do not like to think about losing the ability to manage their own affairs due to accident or serious illness. Yet planning for such a situation is an expression of self‑determination: As a civil law notary in Frankfurt am Main, I help you decide today who may act and speak for you in an emergency and what medical treatment you wish to receive by setting up tailored powers of attorney and advance healthcare directives. Without a proper arrangement, a court may have to decide for you – a risk that can be avoided by setting up legally robust advance directives.

Why professional emergency planning matters

Contrary to a widespread assumption, spouses and adult children do not automatically have full authority to act for you in medical or financial matters (apart from a very limited statutory emergency right for spouses). Without a power of attorney, the guardianship court will appoint a legal guardian, which may be a stranger. This process is often bureaucratic and involves ongoing court supervision.

Registration in the Central Register for Advance Directives (ZVR)

To ensure that your documents can be found quickly in an emergency, we arrange for them to be registered in the Central Register for Advance Directives (Zentrales Vorsorgeregister – ZVR) maintained by the Federal Chamber of Notaries. Courts and hospitals consult this register nationwide before initiating guardianship proceedings. This helps ensure that your wishes are identified and respected without delay.

The three pillars of your protection

We typically combine three key instruments into a comprehensive package:

  • General power of attorney
    (Vorsorgevollmacht)

    You appoint one or more trusted persons to represent you in legal, financial and personal matters.

  • Advance healthcare directive
    (Patientenverfügung)

    You specify which medical interventions you want to receive or refuse in defined situations. This relieves your family of the burden of making life and death decisions without guidance.

  • Guardianship directive
    (Betreuungsverfügung)

    For the unlikely case that a court appointed guardian is still required despite the power of attorney, you determine whom the court should appoint – and whom it should not appoint.

Special considerations for business owners

Business emergency planning (“Unternehmer-Notfallkoffer”)

For business owners and managing partners, a standard private power of attorney is often not sufficient. If the key decision-maker unexpectedly becomes unable to act, the consequences for the business can be serious: payroll and payments may be disrupted, contracts cannot be validly executed and necessary shareholder or partner resolutions cannot be passed – significantly impairing the company’s ability to operate.

This risk can be mitigated through tailored business emergency planning (often referred to in German as an “Unternehmer-Notfallkoffer”). The objective is to ensure that representation and decision-making remain possible at all relevant levels in a legally sound and reliable manner. In practice, this typically includes:

  • Power of attorney for business matters – A power of attorney tailored to the owner’s or manager’s role, authorizing one or more trusted persons to act in business matters – aligned with the company’s articles or partnership agreement, commercial register entries and the requirements of banks and other counterparties.
  • Corporate law safeguards – Clear rules on representation, management and decision-making to ensure that the company remains capable of taking binding decisions even if a shareholder, partner or managing director becomes incapacitated.
  • Organized access to key documents – Transparent arrangements specifying where essential documents (such as articles of association, shareholder or partner registers, bank documentation and insurance policies) are kept and who may access them in an emergency.

Business emergency planning complements a private power of attorney with an additional, company-focused layer of protection. Its full effect is achieved when it is aligned with long-term business succession and estate planning: only if short-term operational continuity and long-term succession arrangements are properly coordinated can the stability of the business be safeguarded in a sustainable manner.

Why use a civil law notary? Security vis à vis banks and authorities

Simply signing an internet template or a pre‑printed form is often not sufficient in critical situations:

  • Real estate transactions: Without a notarial power of attorney, your attorney‑in‑fact may not be able to sell or mortgage your property (for example, to fund long‑term care).
  • Bank acceptance: Banks and investment institutions often insist on a notarized or notarially certified power of attorney before allowing access to accounts or securities to prevent abuse.
  • Proof of capacity: As part of the notarization, we document your legal capacity. This protects the power of attorney against later challenges by third parties or authorities.

If a power of attorney is signed outside Germany, it will often need to be notarized in the country of execution and then legalized by apostille (and in some cases translated) before German authorities and banks will accept it.

Process & costs

  • Preparation: You send us your wishes and the details of your intended attorneys‑in‑fact via our online questionnaire for advance directives.
  • Consultation: We tailor the clauses to your personal circumstances and explain the legal implications.
  • Notarization: We notarize the documents and provide you and your attorneys‑in‑fact with certified copies. Fees depend on your assets but are generally modest compared to the costs and burdens of court‑appointed guardianship proceedings.

Act while you can

A small step today – setting up a power of attorney and advance healthcare directive – can provide great security for you and your family tomorrow. You are welcome to visit us in our offices in Frankfurt’s Nordend. We will assist you in preparing your advance directives – precisely, securely and discreetly.

Schedule an appointment
Dr. Andreas Hitzel, LL.M (Cambridge)

Dr. Andreas Hitzel, LL.M. (Cantab.)
Your notary in Frankfurt

Put your trust in notarial expertise, personalised advice and legally sound solutions. Dr. Andreas Hitzel will provide you with personal, reliable and forward-looking support in your important legal matters.
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ADDRESS
Dr. Andreas Hitzel, LL.M. (Cantab.)
Holzhausenstrasse 19
60322 Frankfurt
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T: +49 (0)69 3008898-0
F: +49 (0)69 3008898-2

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