What is a bedingter Zahlungsbefehl?
A bedingter Zahlungsbefehl (conditional payment order) is a court order on a money claim, issued without a hearing. It shows that someone is asserting a claim against you, but it is not yet a judgment.
How to recognise a Zahlungsbefehl
The heading reads literally "Bedingter Zahlungsbefehl". The sender is a Bezirksgericht (district court) or a Landesgericht (regional court), with a Geschäftszahl (case number, GZ), for example 12 C 345/26k. The Zahlungsbefehl reproduces the content of the claim: the claimant, the claim broken down by items, interest, costs. A signature is usually missing because the document was generated automatically. That is normal. With a Bezirksgericht, a form for the Einspruch (objection) is enclosed.
What a Zahlungsbefehl is not
It is not a judgment. The court has not examined whether the claim is justified; it has only processed the claimant's application formally. A letter headed "Zahlungsauftrag" is something different: the bill of exchange procedure (Wechselmandatsverfahren), for which other rules apply.
Your four week deadline runs from service (Zustellung), not from the printed date. Details and a worked example are on the page Zahlungsbefehl deadline.
Your options
- Pay, if in your view the claim is justified: within 14 days.
- File an Einspruch, against the whole claim or expressly against part of it only, if you disagree.
- Do nothing: the Zahlungsbefehl then becomes final and enforceable after four weeks, for example through attachment of your wages or bank account.
How Catius Documents helps
We take down your details from the Zahlungsbefehl and, if you decide to, prepare an Einspruch for the Bezirksgericht. The price is 9 EUR including VAT, one time.