Proceedings before the German Courts

The claimant is expected to pay the court-costs in advance. If the fees are not settled in time, one must wait approximately two to five weeks for the request to be issued by the court, depending on the respective workload. The client will then receive a request to pay the amount indicated under a reference code.

Initial court proceedings

Court proceedings are officially started when the court launches the claim form by sending it to the debtor by post. From that point on the creditor is considered and registered as the claimant and the debtor as the defendant. The court will also send the defendant a form for acknowledging that he has received the claim and forms for admitting or denying the claim. The case is listed for hearing and the petition is then served on the debtor who has to defend himself with a defence declaration to be remitted within a time period given by the court.

If the defendant fails to respond to the claim, the claimant can obtain a judgment against the debtor. This will take the form of a court order which requires the defendant to make a payment.
When the claimant is awarded judgment against the defendant, the court will normally order that the defendant pays the debt, interests and costs including any court fees the claimant has paid.

Litigation costs

The  claimant is liable for the costs, but - in case of winning the case - has the right to recover them from the debtor. It has to be pointed out that without an advance payment of three court fees by you as the plaintiff, court proceeding will not be opened.