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Certified German Power of Attorney Translation
Certified translation of the documents that grant authority to act in Germany, including the registry annotations and endorsements that carry the legal effect and that a reader unfamiliar with the system will otherwise skip.
$24.95/page
Flat rate per page, up to 250 words. No hidden fees.
100% USCIS acceptance
Every certified translation is guaranteed to be accepted by USCIS.
24-hour delivery
Most 1-3 page documents are delivered within 24 hours. Same-day available.
Vorsorgevollmacht — the one Germans actually have
The German instrument most often encountered is a Vorsorgevollmacht, a precautionary power of attorney covering health, care, finances and residence in the event of incapacity, frequently alongside a Patientenverfügung, an advance healthcare directive.
It is a private arrangement made to avoid court-appointed Betreuung, and a US reader reading it as a commercial power has misread its purpose entirely. We name the instrument and translate the health and residence clauses as carefully as the financial ones.
Notarial certification, and when it is required
A German power may be a private document, may carry öffentliche Beglaubigung — certification of the signature by a notary — or may be a full notarielle Beurkundung, the notarial recording of the whole transaction.
Land register transactions require certified signatures at minimum and frequently full notarial recording. The three forms are different instruments and the endorsement says which. We translate it.
The Zentrales Vorsorgeregister
Germany maintains a central register of precautionary powers operated by the federal chamber of notaries, which courts check before appointing a guardian.
A registration confirmation may accompany the power, and it is the document that makes the power findable when it is needed. We translate it with the power.
Transmortale and postmortale
A German power may be expressed to survive death (transmortale Vollmacht) or to take effect only on death (postmortale), which matters a great deal in estate matters.
Those are single German words carrying a substantive term, and a translation that renders them loosely loses it. See our German page.
Ordering, and what the certification covers
Upload the document, choose certified translation at $24.95 per page of up to 250 words, and it comes back typically within 24 hours as a PDF formatted to mirror the original, with a signed certificate of translation accuracy on letterhead. Marginal annotations are translated in place, in the margin, and every seal, stamp and registry endorsement is translated with the text. See how we translate and certified versus standard.
Frequently asked questions
What is a Vorsorgevollmacht?
A precautionary power covering health, care, finances and residence on incapacity, made to avoid court-appointed guardianship.
Does it need a notary?
It may be private, signature-certified, or fully notarially recorded. Land register transactions need at least certified signatures.
What is the central register?
The federal notaries' register of precautionary powers, which courts check before appointing a guardian.
Does the power survive death?
It says. Transmortale survives death and postmortale takes effect on it. Substantive terms we translate precisely.
Ready to get started?
Upload the document and receive the certified translation, typically within 24 hours.