All Posts By

Bernhard Schmeilzl

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
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
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
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