Apply for legal aid or procedural cost assistance at court

You can apply for legal aid should you demonstrably be unable to enforce legitimate claims in court or to defend yourself against the claims of another. In family court matters and matters of non-contentious jurisdiction, legal aid is called proceedings cost assistance.

Financial support can be granted from the public treasury for almost all court proceedings. Depending on your personal and financial circumstances, you may not have to pay the legal costs at all or only in partial installments. Where applicable, up to 48 monthly installments may become due, the amount of which is determined by the court upon approval.

Defendants in criminal proceedings generally do not receive legal aid. In criminal cases, only the victim (for example, as a joint plaintiff) and the plaintiff who prosecutes certain criminal offenses in court without the assistance of the public prosecutor's office (private prosecutor) are eligible to apply.

NoteFinancial assistance outside of court proceedings is also granted in the form of legal advice assistance upon application.

You can submit the application for legal aid informally. In the application, you must describe the subject matter of the dispute in detail and completely. Also indicate any available evidence. Furthermore, you must attach a statement of your personal and financial circumstances on the prescribed form to the application.

Should you need help with the application, you can contact a law firm. The application can also be submitted directly by a lawyer.

The approval only ever applies to the respective instance. For subsequent proceedings, you must apply for legal aid or assistance with court costs anew each time. This also applies to cases such as

• Enforcement of a judgment after winning a lawsuit,
• Appeal or complaint after a lost lawsuit (deadline for filing: period for lodging legal remedies with the appellate or higher court),
• Appeal or complaint proceedings initiated by your opposing party

Court fees are not incurred in the first instance of proceedings for legal aid or procedural cost assistance. As a rule, legal representation does not receive a separate fee for its activity within the scope of these proceedings.

In the event of losing, the costs of the opposing party for the litigation generally must be reimbursed.

According to section, the rejection of legal aid can be appealed against with Section 127, paragraph 2, sentence 2 in conjunction with. Section 567 of the Code of Civil Procedure (ZPO) the legal remedy of an immediate complaint is available,