Documents from Bavarian courts or notaries for use abroad; application for pre-certification for legalization
If you want to use a document from a court or notary abroad, it may have to be legalized. For this purpose, it may have to be pre-certified by the competent German authority beforehand.
Description
German public documents are generally only recognized abroad if their authenticity has been confirmed by the competent representation of the country concerned in Germany (legalization). The representations of the foreign states generally require prior certification of the German documents by the competent German authorities.
In Bavaria, the president of the regional court in whose business district the document was drawn up is responsible for the preliminary certification of documents from the area of ordinary jurisdiction, including notaries. Within the scope of the legalization procedure for foreign representations, the regional courts certify, for example, German judgments, decisions, court documents, notarial deeds and translations.
There are international agreements according to which certain documents are exempt from legalization.
Prerequisites
You want to use a judicial or notarial document abroad and need a pre-certification for the legalization.
Procedure
If you need an authentication for a legalization procedure, you can contact the president of the respective district court informally with a short letter, depending on the jurisdiction.
When sending the document by mail, it is essential to specify the country for which the document is required. In general, the original documents must be enclosed. The documents can also be delivered in person.
Special notes
The representations of certain countries require - independent of the above-mentioned pre-certification - a so-called final certification for the legalization of German documents. This must be applied for at the Federal Office for Foreign Affairs.
Processing time
For the completion of the certificates, a processing time of 2-3 working days must be accepted.
Required documents
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Document from the court or notary in the original
Links to more information
Status: 11.05.2023
Responsible for editing: Bayerisches Staatsministerium der Justiz
- Online transactions, Bavaria-wide
- Online transactions, locally limited
- Prefillable Form, Bavaria-wide
- Legal bases, Bavaria-wide
- Legal bases, locally limited
- Fees, Bavaria-wide
- Fees, locally limited
If you select a location under "Localization" the contact details of the responsible authority and, if applicable, locally valid information will be displayed.