Unlike in Italy, Germany has a legal advice monopoly for lawyers; lawyers or tax advisors who are not licensed to practice law are not allowed to provide legal advice, either in corporate law or family law. In Italy, on the other hand, commercialisti are often the true advisors to companies in commercial and corporate law.

A tax advisor in Baden had to be reminded of the so-called legal advice monopoly after he drafted a separation agreement for a married couple. The relevant bar association sued him for injunctive relief and payment of a warning fee of EUR 250. The tax advisor defended himself by arguing, among other things, that he had provided the service free of charge and invoked an exception in the Legal Services Act (paragraph 6). The Higher Regional Court of Karlsruhe (judgment of October 22, 2024, 14 U 184/23), on the other hand, took the lawyer-friendly view that this was not a case of a service provided free of charge, as the tax advisor had acted on behalf of the spouses in tax matters (and had, of course, billed them for this). The tax advisor was ordered to cease and desist and to pay!