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The order to sort things out after you marry
Written by
Janine El-Saghir
Janine El Saghir is an editor at How-to-Germany.com, where she specializes in the practical aspects of daily life and integration for expatriates. With years of...
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Sadie Voss is the Lead Editor for How-to-Germany.com. As an expat who carved her own way into Berlin from the United States, Sadie is deeply...
- Automatic after a German wedding: the registry office tells the registration office, and both of you move to tax class IV. After a wedding abroad, you have to show the certificate yourself.
- Tax class: IV/IV is the default. III/V or IV with a factor needs an application by both of you, by 30 November for the current year.
- Health insurance: a partner with little or no income can join the other’s public health insurance free of charge. Private insurance has no family cover — each spouse needs a policy of their own.
- Residence: for a partner from outside the EU, the marriage is the basis of the spouse residence permit.
- Money and insurance: one joint account for shared bills, one liability policy for both of you, and one household contents policy for the shared home.
The order below follows the deadlines. What affects your pay slip and your insurance comes first; what can wait comes last. The steps before the wedding: getting married in Germany.
The checklist in order
| Step | Where | When | What you need |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Marital status | Registration office (Bürgeramt) | Automatic after a German wedding; after a wedding abroad, soon after you return | Marriage certificate, passports |
| 2. Tax class | Tax office (Finanzamt), on paper or via ELSTER | Only if IV/IV doesn’t suit you; by 30 November | Application signed by both of you |
| 3. Health insurance | Public health insurance fund | Right after the wedding | Marriage certificate, partner’s income details |
| 4. Surname (optional) | Registry office (Standesamt) | At the wedding or any time later | Name declaration |
| 5. Residence permit (non-EU partner) | Immigration office (Ausländerbehörde) or German embassy | Before the current permit or visa runs out | Marriage certificate, German certificate at A1 or exemption |
| 6. Joint account | Your bank | When you start sharing bills | Passports or ID cards of both of you |
| 7. Liability and household insurance | Your insurers | Before the next renewal date | Both policies, notice periods |
| Sources: Civil Status Ordinance, Income Tax Act, Social Code Book V, Residence Act; Bavarian and Saxon tax administrations; consumer advice centers (retrieved 25 October 2026). | |||
Marital status: what happens on its own
After a wedding at a German registry office, you don’t have to report anything. The registry office tells the registration office, which updates your marital status in the register.1 From there, the date of the wedding goes to the tax authorities, and your tax class changes without an application.2
After a wedding abroad, nobody passes anything on. Take the marriage certificate to your Bürgeramt, the local office that keeps the population register. Which certificate it accepts and whether you need a translation: married abroad: is your marriage valid in Germany?
Tax class: check it on your next pay slip
When the tax office learns of your marriage, both of you get tax class IV.2 This happens even if one of you has no job. It takes about two weeks after the registration office has passed on the date of the wedding. Your employer receives the new class electronically, so you don’t have to hand in anything at work.3 After a wedding abroad, the switch is not automatic. You apply with the marriage certificate.4
IV/IV is not always the best combination. III/V suits couples with very different salaries. IV with a factor spreads the tax advantage of marriage over both pay slips. Both need an application signed by both of you.4 A change applies from the month after your application. For it to count in the current year, the application must reach the tax office by 30 November.5
The year of the wedding counts as a married year in full. You can file one joint tax return for the whole year, even if you married in December.6 How the combinations work, who they suit and three worked examples of the splitting benefit: taxes after the wedding. Your net pay in each class: the income tax calculator with the married setting, and the overview of tax classes in Germany.
Health insurance: free cover for a partner with little income
If one of you is a member of a public health insurance fund, the other can be insured there free of charge. This is called family insurance (Familienversicherung). The conditions: your partner lives in Germany, isn’t insured in their own right, isn’t mainly self-employed and earns no more than €565 a month. For income from a mini job, the limit is €603 a month.7 Send your fund the marriage certificate and fill in its family insurance form.
- Both of you work: each stays insured in their own right. Marriage gives you one more option: a spouse may choose the other’s health insurance fund.8
- One of you is privately insured: private insurance has no family insurance. Every person needs a policy of their own, the partner without income too.9
- Planning children: if the parent who is not publicly insured earns more than the publicly insured one and above a set income level, the children can’t be insured for free.7 Think about this before one of you switches to private insurance.
The options for couples and children: health insurance for families in Germany.
Surname: optional, and no deadline
Nobody has to change their name. If you want a married name, declare it at the registry office — at the wedding or at any time later. A declared married name can’t be undone.10 Afterwards, update your ID card or passport, then your bank, employer, health insurance fund and tax office.
Residence permit for a partner from outside the EU
For a partner who is not an EU citizen, the marriage is the basis of a residence permit as a spouse. Most spouses need simple German at level A1 — spouses of Germans too.11 Whether your partner can apply in Germany or has to apply for a visa from abroad depends on how they entered and where you married. If you married in Denmark during a short stay, read the section on Denmark in married abroad first.
If your partner already lives in Germany on a permit for work or study, ask the immigration office whether to switch before that permit expires. The requirements and documents: spouse visa for Germany.
Joint account for shared bills
A joint account in both names pays rent, utilities and groceries without transfers back and forth. Each of you keeps a personal account for your own salary and spending. Agree beforehand who pays how much into the joint one each month.
Two joint accounts, one app-based and one at a branch bank:
Advertising notice: provider links in this overview are affiliate links — we receive a commission from the provider for sign-ups made through them.
More accounts compared: joint bank accounts in Germany.
Liability insurance: one policy for both of you
Personal liability insurance (Privathaftpflicht) pays when you damage someone else’s property or injure someone. For a married couple, one joint policy is enough, and family tariffs are usually cheaper than two single policies.12 In the insurance industry’s model terms, the policyholder’s spouse is covered automatically.13 But insurers sell separate tariffs for singles, couples and families.12 So check whether your policy is a single tariff and, if it is, switch to a partner or family tariff.
- You both have a policy: keep the one with the better cover and end the other. Most contracts run for a year and can be cancelled with three months’ notice before the end of the term.12 Ask your insurer whether it will end the second policy earlier.
- Damage between the two of you is not covered. Claims between people insured under the same policy are excluded.13 If your spouse breaks your laptop, the policy doesn’t pay.
Liability policies side by side, with monthly premium and sum insured:
Advertising notice: provider links in this overview are affiliate links — we receive a commission from the provider for sign-ups made through them.
What the policies cover and cost in detail: liability insurance in Germany.
Household contents insurance after moving in together
Household contents insurance (Hausratversicherung) covers your belongings at home against fire, burglary, burst pipes and storm. In the insurance industry’s model terms, it covers the belongings of everyone who lives with the policyholder in the same household. So one policy is enough for a couple.14
Two things to check when two households become one:
- The insured sum: if it is lower than the value of everything you now own, you are underinsured, and the insurer pays only part of a claim. A common guideline from the insurance industry is €650 per square meter of living space (as of November 2025).15
- The move: while you move, your belongings are insured in both flats. Cover at the old address ends two months after the move begins at the latest. Tell your insurer about the move in good time.15
Pension: the one-year rule for widows and widowers
The public pension insurance pays a widow’s or widower’s pension only if the marriage lasted at least one year. A shorter marriage counts only if the circumstances show that securing the pension was not the only or main reason for the wedding.16
Part of getting married in Germany. After the wedding: taxes after the wedding · your surname after marriage.
Frequently Asked Questions
After a wedding at a German registry office, yes. Both of you move to tax class IV, usually about two weeks after the registration office has passed on the date of the wedding. After a wedding abroad, it doesn’t: send the marriage certificate to your tax office. For III/V or IV with a factor, both of you apply, by 30 November for the current year.
Not after a wedding in Germany — the registry office reports it. After a wedding abroad, take the marriage certificate to your local registration office (Bürgeramt), because your tax class depends on the marital status recorded there.
Yes, through family insurance, free of charge, if your spouse lives in Germany, isn’t insured in their own right, isn’t mainly self-employed and earns no more than €565 a month (€603 from a mini job; 2026). Private health insurance has no family insurance; each spouse needs a policy of their own.
No. One personal liability policy can cover both spouses if it is a partner or family tariff. If you each have a policy, keep the better one and cancel the other — usually with three months’ notice before the end of the contract year. Damage you cause each other is not covered.
No, the law doesn’t require one, and your personal accounts stay as they are. A joint account in both names is simply the easiest way to pay rent and shared bills.
No. Taking a married name is optional. You can declare it at the registry office at the wedding or at any time later, but you can’t undo it once declared.
Sources and legal basis (as of 25 October 2026)
Sources and legal basis (as of 25 October 2026)
- Civil Status Ordinance (PStV), § 58 (1) No. 5: the registry office reports the marriage to the registration office.
- Income Tax Act (EStG), § 39e (3): tax class IV for both spouses is set automatically when they marry.
- Saxon State Tax Office, information sheet on tax data after marriage (about two weeks after the registration office’s report; undated) and Baden-Württemberg tax administration, tax class after marriage (class IV even if one spouse has no job; employers retrieve the tax data electronically); both in German.
- Bavarian tax administration, tax class after marriage (as of 9 March 2026; no automatic switch after a wedding abroad; III/V and the factor on application of both spouses; in German); Income Tax Act (EStG), § 38b and § 39f.
- Income Tax Act (EStG), § 39 (6): a change applies from the following month; application by 30 November.
- Income Tax Act (EStG), § 26 (1): joint assessment if the conditions arise during the year.
- Social Code Book V (SGB V), § 10: family insurance, income limits (1) and the rule for children of a privately insured parent (3).
- Federal Ministry of Health, guide to health insurance 2026, chapter 1.4 (choosing the spouse’s health insurance fund; in German).
- Insurance Contract Act (VVG), § 193 (3): every person living in Germany needs health insurance of their own.
- German Civil Code (BGB), § 1355: married name; City of Munich, name declaration after marriage (no deadline, cannot be undone; in German).
- Residence Act (AufenthG), § 28 (1) and § 30 (1): residence permits for spouses of Germans and of foreign nationals, simple German.
- Consumer advice centers (Verbraucherzentrale), private liability insurance (as of 7 October 2026; one policy for spouses, tariffs for singles, couples and families, notice periods; in German).
- German Insurance Association (GDV), model terms for personal liability insurance (AVB PHV), as of May 2020, non-binding: A1-2.1.1 (spouse covered) and A1-7.3 (claims between insured persons excluded); in German.
- German Insurance Association (GDV), model terms for household contents insurance (VHB 2022), non-binding: property of persons living in the same household; in German.
- Consumer advice centers (Verbraucherzentrale), household contents insurance (as of 10 November 2025; insured sum, underinsurance, cover during a move; in German).
- Social Code Book VI (SGB VI), § 46 (2a): widow’s and widower’s pension after at least one year of marriage.