I have moved to Berlin, Germany to live with my fiancé.  We will be getting married in Las Vegas in August.

He read that we need to go to a lawyer here to be sure that when we are married, German law prevails in the event something happens such as the death of one partner.  This is so that the surviving partner is taken care of financially, etc.
 
Also, I am divorced.  I was divorced in the US.  I am/was a US resident alien, and a Canadian citizen.
 
Could you give us any help or advice?  Do we really need to go to a lawyer?  For getting married in the US we only need one piece of identification, so that is no problem.  Then we need to have an apostille in the US take care of our marriage certificate so that the German government recognizes our marriage.  I thought that that was all we needed to do, so I am wondering if we really need to go to a lawyer before the marriage?
 
Thanks so much! 

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Dear PL,

It is difficult to answer this question without knowing more details. I suppose your husband is a German citizen and you are Canadian, both resident in Germany now. If that's the case the applicable law would be in fact German law. If both spouses were Canadian, Canadian law would be applicable.
 
These questions are being resolved in the so-called international private law, which in Germany is the 'Einführungsgesetz zum Bürgerlichen Gesetzbuch'. Article 14 deals with the general rules for married couples. It says that if both spouses have the same nationality, then their home law prevails, otherwise it's the law of the state where they live or the law of the state the couple feels closely aligned with.
 
When you raise the question of whether it would be wise to see a lawyer, you probably address the possibility of a marriage contract. It always has to be notarised. Such contract can contain the couple's own option of the prevailing law, if none of the spouses has German citizenship or one of the spouses has more than only one nationality or the spouses don't have a common domicile in Germany.

I hope I could help you so far. Please turn to me again if you have further questions or something remained unclear.

Regards,

Csilla

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An Expatica reader writes:

I hope you can help me.  I lived and worked in Germany for a little over a year.  I am now in the States.  I heard I can get some of the money back that I paid into the German Social Security System.  Do you have any information about that process?
 
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Dear reader,

It is in fact possible to get the money back that has been paid into the Social Security System. Please turn to the Landesversicherungsanstalt Hamburg, because they are in charge of all matters regarding the Agreement on Social Security between Germany and the USA. You can also get some information about the procedure under www.lva-hamburg.de They provide information also in English.
 
Regards,

Csilla

July 2005

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This article contains information of a general nature and should not be considered as legal advice.

Although the greatest care has been taken in drafting this article, it is possible that certain information may have become outdated or inaccurate since its publication.

Send a question to Csilla Iványi at germany@expatica.com

[Copyright Expatica 2005]

Subject: Life in Germany, legal advice, ask our lawyer