Sorting out contracts after a separation in Germany: who is liable for what, and in what order to act

A separation changes a lot, but it doesn't change a single contract. The electricity supply contract keeps running, the family mobile package keeps running, the contents insurance keeps running, and in the name of whoever signed, regardless of who moved out and who actually uses the service. That is exactly where the unpleasant surprises come from: the annual bill for a flat you haven't lived in for eight months. This article shows what typically runs in whose name, which deadlines tick, and in what order it makes sense to proceed. It doesn't replace legal advice. Where significant money or a dispute is involved, advice is the cheaper end of the bargain.

A note for readers who have moved to Germany: the rules below are German law and German practice. Austria and Switzerland differ in the details. Names of authorities and laws are given in German because that is what the letters you receive will say.

Two basic rules from which almost everything follows

Rule 1: whoever signed is liable. Moving out is not a ground for cancellation and does not end an obligation to pay. As long as a contract has not been cancelled or rewritten, the contracting party remains bound, even if the other person is using the electricity.

Rule 2: signed together means jointly and severally liable. If both signed, the provider can demand the full amount from either one of you, not just half (section 421 of the German Civil Code, BGB). Whoever pays can then reclaim the money from the other internally (section 426 BGB), but that is a second dispute, often a wearisome one. Avoid it by properly separating the contracts themselves, rather than only agreeing internally who pays.

The difference between the external relationship (what the provider may demand) and the internal relationship (what you have agreed between you) is the core of the whole topic. An agreement at the kitchen table doesn't bind the electricity supplier.

Step 0: the inventory

Before anything is cancelled, you need an overview. Take the bank statements for the last twelve months (twelve, because annual charges would otherwise slip through) and make a list. Four details per contract:

1. Who is the contracting party? Is one name on the contract, or both?
2. Who will use it in future?
3. What notice period and end of term apply?
4. Is there a special right of cancellation? For many contracts, moving house is one.

Don't forget the contracts without a monthly debit: annual club fees, car insurance, magazine subscriptions, cloud storage, domains, the children's insurances.

The order: what comes first

1. Separate the payment routes

This is the first step because everything else depends on it. Most joint accounts are so-called either-or accounts (Oder-Konten): each holder can act alone, so can also clear the account alone. Under the usual bank terms, each account holder can revoke the other's sole right to dispose of the account. After that nothing works without both signatures, and the either-or account becomes in effect a both-must-sign account. Closing the account, by contrast, can only be done jointly. One holder can't do it alone.

In practice this means: open your own account, redirect your salary and Kindergeld (the monthly state child benefit paid to parents), move standing orders and direct debits over one after another, and only then wind up the joint account. Whoever closes first and moves things afterwards produces returned debits and reminder fees.

2. Housing

With a tenancy agreement signed jointly, both are liable as joint debtors. The landlord can demand the full rent from either one, including the one who has moved out. Moving out alone releases nobody from the contract.

While the marriage lasts, a change of tenant only works by agreement. The partner moving out can be released from the contract if all those involved agree, including the landlord. The landlord is not obliged to in principle, because they lose a debtor.

After a final divorce, section 1568a BGB applies. Whoever continues to live in the flat has a claim to enter the tenancy alone, and the landlord must cooperate. The landlord then has an extraordinary right to terminate within one month of learning of the departure, but only if there is an important reason in the person who remains.

With home ownership it gets more complex (land register, loans, joint and several liability for the credit). This is the point where legal advice generally pays for itself.

3. Insurance

Here the rules differ by type of cover, and the differences are regularly mixed up.

Contents insurance (Hausratversicherung): if the policyholder moves out of the shared home, cover temporarily extends to both homes, but only for a limited time: at most until three months after the next premium due date following the move. After that the old home is no longer covered. Whoever stays and isn't the policyholder needs a policy of their own by then.

Personal liability (Privathaftpflicht): here the cover for the co-insured spouse doesn't end with the separation but only with the final divorce. Whoever moves out during the separation period should report it anyway, and take out a policy of their own in good time before the divorce so no gap arises. In many tariffs children stay co-insured even if they no longer live in the policyholder's household. That is in the terms and worth a look.

Car insurance: the no-claims discount belongs to the policyholder, not to whoever drove. A transfer to the ex-partner is possible but needs their consent, and that the beneficiary regularly used the vehicle. Without agreement, the other person starts from zero or with a special classification that an insurer grants voluntarily and which doesn't travel with them when they next change provider.

Further to check: legal expenses insurance (family tariffs usually no longer cover the ex-partner after separation), accident, term life and disability insurance, above all the question of who pays the premiums and who is the named beneficiary.

4. Electricity and gas

On moving out, a special right of cancellation applies, but with a condition that is often overlooked. With a special contract (Sondervertrag, as opposed to the default supply) you can cancel extraordinarily with six weeks' notice, effective at the move or later. It only takes effect, though, if the provider does not offer within two weeks to continue the contract at the new address on the same terms. If it can supply there and offers to, you stay in the contract. In the basic supply (Grundversorgung, the default tariff), you can cancel with two weeks' notice.

What goes wrong if you do nothing: two parallel contracts, and with them the electricity bill of the next tenants. So always document both meter readings with the meter number, ideally with a photo, and cross-check the number so you aren't registered by mistake for the neighbouring flat.

5. Phone, mobile, internet

For telecoms contracts, section 60 of the Telecommunications Act (TKG) governs moves. The provider must continue to provide the agreed service at the new address if it offers it there, on unchanged terms and without a new minimum term. If it can't supply there, you can cancel with one month's notice, effective at the move or later. A reasonable fee may be charged for the cost of the move, at most as much as a new connection.

With family tariffs and partner SIMs, basic rule 1 applies unchanged: the contract holder is liable for all SIMs, including the ex-partner's. If the SIM is to go on being used, it belongs in a contract of its own. Otherwise one of you keeps paying for the other, including international calls and third-party charges.

6. Rundfunkbeitrag

The Rundfunkbeitrag is Germany's public broadcasting contribution, similar to a TV licence, but charged per home, not per person, and in 2026 it is €18.36 a month. After a separation with two homes, it is due twice. Whoever moves out must register the new home. Whoever stays in the old one checks whether the contribution has to be transferred to them. If that is missed, either double payments or back-claims build up.

7. Streaming, music and other family subscriptions

Netflix, Spotify and comparable family tariffs are tied to a shared household or address, and the providers now actively check this through device, location and address data. After the move-out, joint continued use is technically tricky and not provided for in the terms. Compared with rent and insurance this is a small topic, but one that can be settled quickly and without dispute: who keeps the tariff, who gets their own, and from when.

Put the internal arrangement in writing

Not everything can be separated straight away. Some contracts still run for months, and some can't be cancelled unilaterally. For exactly this transitional period a short written summary is worthwhile: which contract runs in whose name, who uses it, who pays it, from when, and by when it will be switched. Two pages are enough. The benefit shows half a year later, when an annual bill arrives and nobody remembers what was agreed.

The deadline traps

• Automatic renewal. Many contracts renew silently. Note the end of term and the notice period for each contract and set a reminder well before it, not on the last day.
• Special cancellation rights lapse. Cancellation rights linked to moving are tied to deadlines. Whoever lets them pass stays bound to the regular term.
• Written form and proof. Cancel in a way you can prove and keep the confirmation. In a dispute, what counts is what you can show.
• Change of address everywhere. One single provider still writing to the old address produces reminders that you only learn about through the debt collection agency.

Where advice is worth it

For home ownership and joint loans, for larger sums, and always when you cannot agree, a specialist family lawyer (Fachanwalt für Familienrecht) is the cheaper option, even if it doesn't look like it at first. For questions about individual consumer contracts (electricity, telecoms, subscriptions), the consumer advice centres (Verbraucherzentralen) advise for low fees. And if payments can no longer be met, debt counselling (Schuldnerberatung) is the right and free first step: early, not only after the third reminder.

Order here is not a chore

Contracts are the part of a separation that can be worked through completely, unlike much else. One list, one order, a handful of deadlines. Whoever keeps this clean once saves themselves back-claims, double payments and a whole category of conflict nobody needs. In patchio you can store contracts with their term and notice period, and the cancellation radar reminds you in good time before anything renews. And if the children's care also has to be arranged in parallel, there is an article on the contact schedule and one on organising a Wechselmodell.