If you are a German citizen, you can apply for a German passport. This allows you to enter more than 170 countries worldwide without a visa. You must generally apply for the passport at the citizens' office in your place of residence.

Children need their own ID card to travel abroad from birth. An identity card is sufficient for travel within the EU and to Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Turkey. For all other countries, children - like adults - need a passport.

You can obtain a birth certificate for your child from the registry office in the place of birth.

A miscarriage or stillbirth is a heavy blow for the parents concerned. You can report the miscarriage to the registry office in whose jurisdiction the miscarriage occurred and receive a certificate.

Do you need another civil partnership certificate? You can obtain this from the registry office where the registered partnership was established.

If you as parents are not married to each other at the birth of your child, you can obtain joint custody by submitting both custody declarations to the youth welfare office in your place of residence.

Have you lost your divorce certificate? Then you can apply for a new certified copy at the local or family court where your divorce proceedings were conducted. Only this court will keep the original of your divorce certificate.

You can change your first name in exceptional cases upon request if there is an important reason for the change.

If you have several first names, you can have their order changed by making a declaration.

If your marriage was divorced outside Germany, you can have this decision formally recognized in Germany.

The marriage certificate proves the marriage of two people. You can obtain your marriage certificate from the registry office in whose area the marriage took place. The registry office issues it from the marriage register.

In Germany, motherhood is clearly regulated: The mother of a child is the woman who gave birth to the child. This regulation does not apply to all countries. If the mother is not married, according to the law of some countries, a relationship between mother and child only arises when the mother makes a declaration in which she acknowledges the child.

If the parents of a child are not married to each other, the biological father is not automatically the legally recognized father. Recognition with all rights and obligations only takes place through the public notarization of a declaration by the father. The mother must agree to the declaration.

If you are divorced or have ended your civil partnership, you can take your birth name again instead of your joint surname.

When you get married, you make a declaration to the registrar about the name you and your spouse wish to use in the future. If you wish to change your name at a later date, you can do so in person at the registry office.