The Experts on Anglo-German Law

CrossChannelLawyers.co.uk, its German language counterpart Cross-Channel-Lawyers.de, and InternationalProbateLaw.com are law blogs (blawgs) dealing with Anglo-German legal issues. A network of international lawyers who are experienced in cross border legal problems and who give practical and reliable advice. The law blogs are run by the lawyers of Graf & Partners, a firm of German lawyers (Rechtsanwälte) with many years of professional experience in cross border legal proceedings, who provide legal advice in a comprehensive, understandable and user-oriented manner. Our experienced team of German litigation lawyers provides forensic services all across Germany and runs the expert litigation law blog German Civil Procedure. Graf & Partners, with its international expertise, is well equipped to advise and represent clients from the USA, the United Kingdom and other English speaking countries. Visit us also on YouTube.

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Civil actionGerman Tort LawInternational LitigationLitigation in Germany

When do German Courts have Jurisdiction in Cross-Border Civil Proceedings?

International Jurisdiction of German Civil Courts This article deals with the assessment of the jurisdiction of a German civil court in disputes where the parties have not entered into a contractual agreement on the international venue (Gerichtsstandsvereinbarung). The primary source of law governing international jurisdiction within the EU is the Brussels Ia Regulation (EuGVVO). This Regulation governs the jurisdiction of the courts of a Member State where the defendant is domiciled within the territory of…
Bernhard Schmeilzl
September 16, 2026
Business in GermanyEmployment Law GermanyGerman Citizenship and Immigration

How to Get Your UK Qualifications Recognized in Germany

An Expat Guide for British Professionals and Skilled Workers Germany is facing an aging population and a growing skilled labor shortage. This offers great career opportunities for skilled workers and academics. For British citizens looking to build a career in Germany, the biggest question is often: Will my degree or vocational certificate be recognized? Since Brexit, the rules have changed. The United Kingdom is now legally considered a third country (a non-EU state). However, this…
Bernhard Schmeilzl
September 16, 2026
Business in GermanyEmployment Law GermanyEuropean ProbateFamily LawGerman Citizenship and ImmigrationGerman ProbateInternational Divorce Cases

Moving to Germany changes applicable Divorce and Inheritance Laws

Expats from Britain or the United States should be aware of the unique rules that apply to divorce or the death of a family member while living in Germany. When businesses think about expanding to Germany and sending UK or US staff to Europe, they usually obtain tons of advice about visas, work permits, German employment law and the practical issues of relocating from an Anglo-American country to Germany. What rarely occurs to anyone are…
Bernhard Schmeilzl
September 16, 2026
Business in GermanyBusiness Tax & Fiscal ObligationsCriminal LawGerman Corporate Law

Corporate Tax Evasion Defence Lawyers in Germany

Checklist by German Criminal Defence Solicitors specialising in Corporate Tax Evasion Charges This article provides a summary of possible civil and criminal law consequences of unpaid business taxes under German law  Unpaid German corporate taxes lead to personal liability and criminal charges In many situations, board members and managing directors are personally and fully liable with their private assets for the company’s tax liabilities in Germany. Although German limited companies, such as the GmbH or…
Bernhard Schmeilzl
August 25, 2026
Civil actionDebt collectionGerman LawGoing to courtInternational LitigationLitigation in Germany

German Court Files are Confidential

Even German Court Judgments are not being fully published German Civil Court Case Files are not Public Record American and British lawyers naturally assume that court files are public record and can be easily accessed and inspected by anyone. Not in Germany! Germany is rather secretive when it comes to legal documents. Under German law, there is no general right to access court records in order to inspect and copy them. Instead, the written documents…
Bernhard Schmeilzl
August 24, 2026
Business in GermanyCivil actionDebt collectionGoing to courtInternational LitigationLitigation in Germany

German Commercial Litigation Lawyers for UK Businesses

B2B Debt Collection and Litigation Strategy in Germany Litigants from Britain will find themselves in a very different legal and cultural environment when they have to chase a debt from their German business partners. Many of the legal tools used in England do not exist in Germany. For instance, the German Civil Procedure Rules (Zivilprozessordnung) do not know: a pre-action protocol (a debtor can be immediately sued without any prior warning) any disclosure obligations, much…
Bernhard Schmeilzl
August 24, 2026
Business in GermanyEmployment Law GermanyGerman Citizenship and ImmigrationGerman Labor LawGerman Tax LawPosting Skilled Workers to GermanyStarting Business

How to Lawfully Post Skilled Workers to Germany

Experts in Global Mobility, Visas and Residence Law in Germany The German law boutique SE Legal specialises in cross-border employee assignments and secondments to Germany. The firm's legal experts have many years of practical experience with everything non-German expats and their family members need. The SE Global Business Mobility lawyers can assist specifically in the following areas: Secondment of third-country (ie. non-EU) nationals to Germany, particularly from the UK and from the USA Assignments of…
Bernhard Schmeilzl
August 20, 2026
Business in GermanyEmployment Law GermanyGerman Citizenship and ImmigrationStarting or Expanding Business

Guide for UK Offshore Wind Contractors in Germany

Workforce, German Visa and AÜG Compliance | Checklist for UK Businesses Guest Article by Martin Halfmann, LL.M. | Employment Lawyer at Schlun & Elseven Germany's offshore wind buildout in the North Sea and Baltic Sea depends heavily on specialist contractors, and UK companies - turbine installers, cable-laying specialists, and marine crewing agencies among them - are regularly engaged on German projects. Offshore work brings an additional layer of complexity on top of the immigration and…
SE Legal
August 14, 2026
Criminal LawGerman Citizenship and Immigration

Illegally Crossing the English Channel on German Boats

Germany has tightened Criminal Code to curb human trafficking into the UK The German "Aufenthaltsgesetz" (Residence Act) of 2004 makes it a criminal offense to assist a person to illegally enter or to illegally remain in a European Union or Schengen Member State (there are four countries, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein, that are in the Schengen area but are not EU Member States). The details of what exactly is punishable are quite complicated, see…
Bernhard Schmeilzl
August 14, 2026
Business in GermanyEmployment Law GermanyGerman Labor Law

Staff Cuts in Germany – How to Avoid Legal Blunders

Dismissal of Employees in Germany: A Guide for Employers Business downsizing forces companies to take painful measures. To ensure that redundancies on operational grounds (betriebsbedingte Kündigung) survive the strict scrutiny by the German employment tribunal (Arbeitsgericht), employers in Germany must strictly adhere to a long list of formal and legal requirements. Even minor errors in the process can render redundancies invalid and will lead to costly severance payments or unfair dismissal proceedings. This guide takes…
Bernhard Schmeilzl
August 12, 2026
Business in GermanyBusiness Tax & Fiscal ObligationsEmployment Law GermanyGerman Labor LawGerman Tax Law

Posting Employees to Germany: Employment, Immigration and Social Security Risks

Checklist for UK Companies Posting Employees to Germany Guest Article by Martin Halfmann, LL.M. | Employment Lawyer at Schlun & Elseven A UK company sending an employee to Germany for a project, a client engagement, or market development work is not simply moving one person across a border. Three separate legal regimes apply at once - employment standards, immigration, and social security and tax - and each has its own rules, its own thresholds, and…
SE Legal
August 11, 2026
Business in GermanyBusiness Tax & Fiscal ObligationsGerman Labor Law

UK Companies Supplying Workers to Germany Need an AÜG Permit

Labour Leasing (Staff Augmentation) Licensing Requirements under German Employment Law Guest Article by Martin Halfmann, LL.M. | Employment Lawyer at Schlun & Elseven German clients increasingly look to UK-based contractors to fill short-term gaps in specialist trades, from construction to engineering to marine crew. What is often missed on the UK side is that supplying staff into a German operation can trigger a licensing requirement that has nothing to do with immigration law and everything…
SE Legal
August 11, 2026
Criminal LawGerman Tort Law

Driving an e-scooter drunk in Germany results in an EU-wide driving ban

Do not underestimate the risks of driving an e-scooter after a night out German police have absolutely no sense of humour when it comes to e-scooters. Looking at your phone while driving, taking another person with you on the scooter and especially driving while intoxicated has serious consenquences. If you are heavily drunk, i.e. have an alcohol blood level of 1.1 per mille (0.11%) or above, the drivers license is gone and you are facing…
Bernhard Schmeilzl
July 21, 2026
Business in GermanyFamily LawGerman Citizenship and Immigration

Could You Be Entitled to German Citizenship?

A Guide for British Citizens with German Ancestry For many British citizens, the loss of EU freedom of movement after Brexit has prompted a closer look at family histories. If you have German ancestry, you might be among thousands of Britons who could reclaim German citizenship - and with it, full rights across the European Union. The path to German citizenship by descent has become significantly more accessible since June 2024, when Germany fundamentally reformed…
SE Legal
February 21, 2026
Estate PanningGerman ProbateGerman Succession & Inheritance LawInternational Probate

Which German Probate Court to Apply to?

How to find the correct probate registry in cross-border inheritance cases Germany has 638 County Courts (Amtsgerichte), each of which has a probate department (Nachlassgericht). In order to obtain a German grant of probate (Erbschein), the applicant must address the right one, namely the County Court which has local jurisdiction (örtliche Zuständigkeit).  This is the first aspect which any local probate registrar (Rechtspfleger) in Germany checks, because it is an easy way of getting an…
Bernhard Schmeilzl
December 30, 2025
Civil actionCriminal LawEstate PanningWills and Succession Planning

Bristol Will Writers cheat German beneficiaries out of their £400k inheritance from UK aunt

WDS ASSOCIATES LEGAL SERVICES LTD "LOSES" £1.6 MILLION CLIENT FUNDS Will Writers do not have the best reputation. Already back in 2010, BBC One aired a 30 min report titled "Wills - The Final Rip Off?"  accompanied by this article.  A current case involving the Bristol based "law firm" WDS ASSOCIATES LEGAL SERVICES LTD shows that this bad reputation is not entirely undeserved. That firm, which has earned a large number of horrific client reviews on Google…
Bernhard Schmeilzl
May 22, 2025
Business in Germany

Business development for English Solicitors who are looking for German clients

The law blog on English law in German language generates high end legal business for UK solicitors Launched only in October 2024, the expert law blog www.EnglischesRecht.de, which is the German translation of English law, created and owned by experienced law blogger and international lawyer Bernhard Schmeilzl, is already the #1 go to platform for anyone who searches the internet – in German – for information on English law or for an English lawyer, i.e.…
Bernhard Schmeilzl
May 19, 2025
Business in GermanyConveyancing GermanyEstate PanningFamily LawGerman Corporate LawGerman ProbateGerman Real Estate LawGerman Succession & Inheritance LawGerman Tax LawProperty in GermanyWills and Succession Planning

How to transfer German property to your children or grandchildren tax free

Estate planning in Germany by way of a property management partnership (vermögensverwaltende Personengesellschaft, Familiengesellschaft) If you own (or have inherited) property in Germany, it makes sense from a German tax mitigation perspective to transfer some or all of it to your children or grandchildren during your lifetime. In fact, as early on as possible. Because this allows you to take advantage of the high German gift and inheritance tax allowances multiple times. One particularly efficient…
Bernhard Schmeilzl
January 7, 2025
Conveyancing GermanyEstate PanningGerman ProbateGerman Succession & Inheritance LawWills and Succession Planning

How to mitigate German Gift and Inheritance Tax by way of Niessbrauch (usufruct, life interest, reservation of benefit)

Why German estate planners and tax lawyers love the tool "lifetime gift with a reserved life interest" Any German testator who has offspring and who owns a significant estate and therefore asks their German tax lawyer about estate planning advice on how to transfer the family wealth onto the next generation without paying unneccessary German gift tax or inheritance tax, will, inter alia, be proposed to make use of the standard German estate planning tool…
Bernhard Schmeilzl
October 4, 2024