Widerspruch against a Bescheid: deadline, form and what happens next

Is it actually called Widerspruch for your Bescheid?

Not always. Read the Rechtsbehelfsbelehrung first. It gives the right word, the deadline and the address.

• Bescheid from an authority (for example the city, the Landratsamt (district office), the Ausländerbehörde (immigration office)): in most cases Widerspruch (§ 68, § 70 VwGO).
• Jobcenter, Krankenkasse (health insurance fund), Rentenversicherung (pension insurance): Widerspruch under the Sozialgerichtsgesetz (Social Courts Act) (§ 84 SGG).
• Steuerbescheid (tax assessment) from the Finanzamt (tax office): here it is called Einspruch, deadline one month (§ 347, § 355 AO). More on this: letter from the Finanzamt. The same applies to a Grundsteuerbescheid (property tax assessment).
• Bußgeldbescheid (fine notice): Einspruch, deadline only two weeks after service (§ 67 OWiG).
• Mahnbescheid (court payment order): Widerspruch, but with its own form and a two-week deadline (§ 692 ZPO). More on this: yellow letter in Germany.
• No Widerspruch possible: a law can state that there is no Widerspruch procedure (§ 68 Abs. 1 Satz 2 VwGO). Some Bundesländer (federal states) have done this for certain areas. Then only a Klage (lawsuit) at the court remains, within one month after the Bekanntgabe (official notification) of the Bescheid (§ 74 Abs. 1 VwGO).

What to do now

1. Write on the Bescheid the day on which it arrived. Keep the envelope.
2. Read the Rechtsbehelfsbelehrung: which tool, which deadline, which address?
3. Write a short letter with your name, your address, the date and the Aktenzeichen (reference number) of the Bescheid.
4. One sentence is enough to start with: „Hiermit lege ich Widerspruch gegen Ihren Bescheid vom 01.01.2030, Aktenzeichen 000/000, ein. Die Begründung folgt.“ In English: “I hereby file a Widerspruch against your Bescheid of 01.01.2030, reference number 000/000. The reasons will follow.” (The date and the number are only examples here.)
5. Sign by hand.
6. Send the letter to the authority that issued the Bescheid (§ 70 VwGO, § 84 SGG). Make sure you have proof: Einschreiben (registered post) or handing it in personally with a receipt stamp on your copy.
7. Send the reasons soon after: what is wrong from your point of view? Enclose copies of supporting documents.
8. Do you have to pay despite the Widerspruch, or does a benefit stop? Then also apply for „Aussetzung der Vollziehung“ (suspension of enforcement, see below).
9. If it is about a lot of money, about your residence status, or if you are unsure: get advice, for example from a social advice service, a migration advice service or with Beratungshilfe (state-funded legal advice) from the Amtsgericht (local court).

You can also file the Widerspruch „zur Niederschrift“ (on record). This means: you go to the authority, say it there, and a staff member writes it down. Electronically it only works in the form that the law provides for (§ 70 VwGO, § 3a VwVfG). A simple email normally does not meet this form. A phone call is never enough.

Language: the official language is German (§ 23 Abs. 1 VwVfG; in social law § 19 Abs. 1 SGB X). So write the Widerspruch in German. If a letter arrives in another language, the authority is supposed to ask for a translation (§ 23 Abs. 2 VwVfG). Under § 23 Abs. 4 VwVfG the deadline only counts as met if you hand in the translation within the time the authority sets for it. Otherwise the day the translation reaches the authority counts.

Which deadlines apply

The date in your own Bescheid and the Rechtsbehelfsbelehrung always decide. Only the general rule is given here.

• Widerspruch: within one month after the Bescheid was officially notified to you (§ 70 VwGO, in social law § 84 SGG).
• Bekanntgabe (official notification): a Bescheid that comes by post inside Germany counts as notified on the fourth day after it was posted. This does not apply if it did not arrive at all or arrived later. In case of doubt the authority has to prove that it arrived (§ 41 Abs. 2 VwVfG, in social law § 37 Abs. 2 SGB X).
• The Rechtsbehelfsbelehrung is missing or wrong: then the one-month deadline does not run. The Widerspruch is normally still possible within one year (§ 58 VwGO, in social law § 66 SGG).
• Deadline missed through no fault of your own: you can apply for „Wiedereinsetzung in den vorigen Stand“ (restoration of the deadline). The deadline for this: two weeks after the obstacle has ended (§ 70 Abs. 2 and § 60 VwGO), in social law one month (§ 84 Abs. 2 and § 67 SGG). Within this time you also have to file the missed Widerspruch and show credibly what the reason was.
• Deadline passed, social law: with the Jobcenter, the Krankenkasse or the Rentenversicherung you can file an Überprüfungsantrag (request for review). Under certain conditions the authority has to withdraw a wrong Bescheid later as well (§ 44 SGB X). Get advice on this.
• Klage (lawsuit): if the authority rejects the Widerspruch, you can go to court within one month: after service of the Widerspruchsbescheid (decision on the objection) (§ 74 VwGO), in social law after its Bekanntgabe (§ 87 SGG).

Does the Widerspruch stop the Bescheid?

Often yes. The rule is: a Widerspruch has „aufschiebende Wirkung“ (suspensive effect). The authority may then not enforce the Bescheid for the time being (§ 80 Abs. 1 VwGO, § 86a Abs. 1 SGG). But there are important exceptions:

• Public charges and costs: for a Bescheid about taxes, fees, contributions and costs you have to pay first despite the Widerspruch (§ 80 Abs. 2 Nr. 1 VwGO). This also applies to social insurance contributions (§ 86a Abs. 2 Nr. 1 SGG).
• Sofortige Vollziehung (immediate enforcement): the authority can order that the Bescheid applies immediately. It has to give reasons for this in writing (§ 80 Abs. 2 Nr. 4 and Abs. 3 VwGO, § 86a Abs. 2 Nr. 5 SGG).
• Special laws: for example at the Jobcenter, when it cancels or withdraws a benefit (§ 39 SGB II), and at the Agentur für Arbeit (employment agency), when it withdraws or reduces an ongoing benefit (§ 86a Abs. 2 Nr. 2 SGG).

In these cases you can apply to the authority for Aussetzung der Vollziehung (§ 80 Abs. 4 VwGO, § 86a Abs. 3 SGG). If the authority refuses, a court can help. Advice is useful for this.

What happens after the Widerspruch

The authority checks the Bescheid once more. If it agrees with you, it changes the Bescheid. This is called „Abhilfe“ (§ 72 VwGO, § 85 SGG). If it does not agree with you, you receive a „Widerspruchsbescheid“ with reasons and a new Rechtsbehelfsbelehrung (§ 73 VwGO, § 85 SGG). You can go to court against it within one month.

Does the Widerspruch cost money? In social law the procedure at the authority is free of charge (§ 64 SGB X). With other authorities, costs can arise if the Widerspruch is not successful. The Widerspruchsbescheid states who bears the costs (§ 73 Abs. 3 VwGO).

Common mistakes

• Waiting with the Widerspruch until the reasons are ready. File the Widerspruch in time first, the reasons can follow.
• Only calling or writing a simple email.
• Sending the letter to the wrong office. The address is in the Rechtsbehelfsbelehrung.
• Having no proof that the Widerspruch arrived and when.
• Forgetting the signature or the Aktenzeichen.
• Thinking that the Widerspruch always stops the payment.
• Counting on one month for a Bußgeldbescheid or a Mahnbescheid. There it is two weeks.

More letters explained

• Yellow letter in Germany: what it means and what to do now
• Inkasso letter in Germany: real or fake?
• I received a letter from the Finanzamt: what is it?