Germany has two mechanisms for people who cannot afford legal help, and they cover different stretches of the path. One works before court, the other in court. Working out which one is yours belongs before the trip to the office.
Two separate instruments: help before court and help in court
Beratungshilfe pays for advice and correspondence outside court; Prozesskostenhilfe covers the proceedings themselves. The conditions and the offices differ, and confusing them costs time.
✓ Verified: 02/08/2026
WHAT TO DO
AUTHORITY
Amtsgericht / Mahngericht
Federal agencyPayment orders and enforcement orders run through your state's central Mahngericht. Apply online at online-mahnantrag.de.
DOCUMENTS 2
› Details and tips
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Lea recommends:
Answer one question first: are proceedings already running or not. That decides which of the two applications is even the right one. People turn up at the local court holding a claim form and leave with nothing simply because they picked the wrong instrument.
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Max recommends:
I assumed free legal advice was something for exceptional cases. It turned out to be an ordinary local-court procedure with a form, designed for exactly the situation where the money for advice is missing.
Useful Tools
- Verbraucherzentrale Legal
Consumer protection centres.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Who qualifies for help outside court? ▾
The law names three conditions at once: the person cannot raise the means given their personal and economic circumstances, no other reasonably available form of help exists, and the application does not appear abusive. The first is treated as met where court legal aid would be granted without any own contribution.
How does that differ from help within proceedings? ▾
Beratungshilfe covers work outside court: advice and, where necessary, representation in correspondence. Prozesskostenhilfe concerns proceedings already running or intended and is judged by a different test — sufficient prospect of success. They are two applications made at two different moments.
Is the help available for every area of law? ▾
It is granted in all legal matters, with two limits. In criminal matters and regulatory offence matters only advice is granted, not representation. And it is unavailable where the law of another state applies and the facts have no connection to Germany.
Is it true that some federal states handle this differently? ▾
Yes, and the statute says so expressly. In Bremen and Hamburg the public legal advice service introduced there takes the place of this procedure. In Berlin people may choose between public legal advice and the ordinary route.