ibu institut für berufsbildung und umschulung gmbh
Competence course for professional legal guardians
The course
The aim is to provide the competence training required for professional legal guardians from 1 January 2023.
The trainers
Course modules are delivered by qualified trainers with many years of professional experience.
The qualification
Successful completion of the competence course or individual modules qualifies graduates to work as professional legal guardians.
Upcoming events 11Next event:
Modules 2027From
11 Events
Module 6: “Financial affairs 1”
Open selectionModule 2: “Managing legal guardianship”
Open selectionModule 5: “Personal welfare 2”
Open selectionModule 7: “Financial affairs 2”
Open selectionModule 8: “Social law 1: understanding social law”
Open selectionModule 3: “The law on placement in institutions and compulsory medical treatment”
Open selectionModule 9: “Social law 2: social support structures in practice”
Open selectionModule 10: “Fundamentals of communication and applying learning in practice”
Open selectionModule 11: “Communication in legal guardianship and methods of supported decision-making”
Open selectionModule 1: “Appointment of legal guardians and working with the guardianship court”
Open selectionEducation & training
Competence course for professional legal guardians
German guardianship law was revised with effect from 1 January 2023. All future professional legal guardians are required to provide evidence of competence (Sachkundenachweis).
Obtain evidence of your competence as a professional legal guardian under § 6 of the Betreuerregistrierungsverordnung (BtRegV), the German guardianship registration regulation of 13 July 2022.
Learn alongside your work
11 modules: flexible and practical
ibu gmbh's competence course for professional legal guardians covers all required content, including practical exercises and examinations.
The course consists of 11 modules that can be booked as a complete package or individually. Each module is a self-contained learning unit. All modules use a hybrid format, allowing you to attend alongside work, either online and/or in person in Neustadt-Glewe. An iPad is available on request for use during the modules.
We are happy to advise you on our competence course.
Using AI safely in everyday guardianship work
Introductory course for prospective professional legal guardians
Artificial intelligence can help with emails, conversation notes, research and structuring information. In this compact online training, you will get to know ChatGPT, Copilot and Gemini step by step, in an accessible, practical way, with no technical knowledge required.
Practise writing effective prompts, recognising common errors and hallucinations, and assessing results critically. Data protection and responsible AI use are included from the start: do not enter sensitive data, and retain personal responsibility.
- Format
- Online
- Duration
- 2 hours
- Course fee
- 150,00 €
What you will learn in the introductory course
- Fundamentals: AI's possibilities and limitations
- Writing effective prompts and improving results
- Recognising hallucinations and common errors
- Data protection, GDPR and responsible AI use
- Emails, conversation notes, research and structuring information in guardianship work
Who is the course for?
For prospective professional legal guardians with no prior knowledge. After the course, you can use AI tools more confidently, assess results critically and identify suitable applications for your future guardianship work. You will know which data must never be entered and where human responsibility remains essential.
Competence course content
Module content
- Appointment of a legal guardian: requirements, procedure and fact-finding
- Ordering a requirement for the guardian's consent: conditions, limits and procedure
- Areas of responsibility and supervision by the guardianship court
- Reporting, information and notification duties
- Court approval requirements, including procedures
Duration
Module 1 comprises 15 hours or 20 teaching units.
The full competence course comprises 270 hours or 360 teaching units.
Module content
- UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, particularly Article 12: support in exercising legal capacity, and the significance of fundamental rights
- Establishing the living arrangements and circumstances of the person under guardianship
- Developing guardianship objectives
- Priority of support and of the person's will under § 1821 BGB: wishes and preferences
- The principle of necessity in the relationship with the person under guardianship
- Duties of protection
Duration
Module 2 comprises 30 hours or 40 teaching units.
The full competence course comprises 270 hours or 360 teaching units.
Module content
- Placement involving deprivation of liberty and other liberty-restricting measures under guardianship and public law: requirements and procedures
- Consent to compulsory medical treatment: requirements and procedures
- The guardian's tasks during placement involving deprivation of liberty, other liberty-restricting measures and compulsory medical treatment
Duration
Module 3 comprises 15 hours or 20 teaching units.
The full competence course comprises 270 hours or 360 teaching units.
Module content
- Basic knowledge of common illnesses and disabilities relevant to guardianship, their effects, risks and treatment options
- Ways to avoid placement involving deprivation of liberty, other liberty-restricting measures and compulsory medical treatment
Duration
Module 4 comprises 15 hours or 20 teaching units.
The full competence course comprises 270 hours or 360 teaching units.
Module content
- Treatment contract law, capacity to consent and patients' rights
- Treatment wishes, advance healthcare directives and wishes to die
- The guardian's consent to high-risk medical procedures: requirements and procedures
- Giving up residential accommodation
- Decisions on contact and place of residence
Duration
Module 5 comprises 15 hours or 20 teaching units.
The full competence course comprises 270 hours or 360 teaching units.
Module content
- Basic knowledge of legal capacity to enter into transactions
- Law of representation
- General law of obligations, including liability issues
- Sales contract law
- Debt settlement, payment and enforcement orders, compulsory enforcement and insolvency proceedings
Duration
Module 6 comprises 15 hours or 20 teaching units.
The full competence course comprises 270 hours or 360 teaching units.
Module content
- Asset management and dispositions of the assets of the person under guardianship
- Asset inventories, accounting and court approval requirements
- Aspects of tenancy and residential care law relevant to guardianship
- Aspects of inheritance and family law relevant to guardianship
Duration
Module 7 comprises 15 hours or 20 teaching units.
The full competence course comprises 270 hours or 360 teaching units.
Module content
- An overview of German social law (SGB and SGG), particularly subsistence benefits including accommodation costs, especially under SGB II and XII
- Entitlements to social benefits under SGB V, VI and XI
- Identifying, asserting and enforcing social benefit entitlements, and duties to cooperate under social law
Duration
Module 8 comprises 30 hours or 40 teaching units.
The full competence course comprises 270 hours or 360 teaching units.
Module content
- Participation benefits, particularly under SGB IX
- Participation planning and comprehensive planning procedures
- Rehabilitation and participation benefits provided by the different rehabilitation bodies
- Forms of integration assistance, e.g. participation in working life, medical rehabilitation, education and social participation benefits
- Special forms of housing and supported shared accommodation; care benefits combined with other SGB benefits
- Long-term care insurance benefits, including information and care advice under §§ 7 et seq. SGB XI, and their relationship to other social benefits under § 13 SGB XI
- Care assistance benefits under SGB XII
- Statutory health insurance benefits where care is needed, e.g. home nursing and other benefits under §§ 37 et seq. SGB V and medical rehabilitation
- Integration assistance benefits where care is needed
- Methods of identifying and using advice, social support and assistance structures and networks for individual cases
Duration
Module 9 comprises 45 hours or 60 teaching units.
The full competence course comprises 270 hours or 360 teaching units.
Module content
- Theoretical communication concepts and methods
- Fundamental communication approaches and techniques
- Diversity-sensitive communication
- Strengths-based communication
- Conflict management in communication
- Reflecting on oneself and on power
Duration
Module 10 comprises 30 hours or 40 teaching units.
The full competence course comprises 270 hours or 360 teaching units.
Module content
- Effects of specific illness- or disability-related limitations on communication and decision-making abilities
- The importance of social and environmental factors for the autonomy and decision-making of people under guardianship
- Communication methods to prevent exclusion
- Accessible communication and easy-to-understand language
- Three-party or multi-party interaction with people under guardianship
- Recognising and identifying the wishes, will and preferences of people under guardianship through communication, including biographical aspects and values
- Methods of supporting decision-making by people under guardianship, with practical exercises
Duration
Module 11 comprises 45 hours or 60 teaching units.
The full competence course comprises 270 hours or 360 teaching units.
FAQ
We have put together the professional profile, main responsibilities and requirements for professional legal guardians in an overview for you.
The regulation taking effect on 1 January 2023, the Verordnung über die Registrierung von beruflichen Betreuern (Betreuerregistrierungsverordnung – BtRegV), governing the registration of professional legal guardians, introduces changes, including for people already working as professional guardians. Details are set out in the transitional provision § 32 BtOG.
Initially, they must apply for registration within 6 months. Registration is provisional at first, with a final decision on the application made within six months. Different rules apply depending on how long the guardian has already been working.
If you have worked as a professional legal guardian for more than three years, sufficient competence is presumed on the basis of your professional experience under § 32(2) BtOG.
If you began working as a professional legal guardian within the three years before the new rules took effect, you must provide evidence of competence within one year of their commencement. Only then is a decision made on final registration.
Competence is deemed to have been demonstrated by lawyers qualified to hold judicial office and graduates in social pedagogy or social work (§ 7(6) BtRegV).
The full programme comprises 270 hours or 360 teaching units and is divided into the following 11 modules:
- Appointment of a legal guardian and cooperation with the guardianship court
- Conducting a guardianship
- Law on placement and compulsory medical treatment
- Personal welfare 1
- Personal welfare 2
- Property and financial affairs 1
- Property and financial affairs 2
- Basic knowledge of social law (social law 1)
- Social and support structures in practice (social law 2)
- Communication fundamentals and application in practice
- Guardianship-specific communication and supported decision-making methods
Register for individual modules or for the complete course.
You obtain evidence of competence as a professional legal guardian under § 6 of the Betreuerregistrierungsverordnung (BtRegV) of 13 July 2022.
Each module is a self-contained learning unit and ends with an examination, which you may choose to take. You receive a certificate of attendance after each module and an additional certificate if you pass the examination.
The hybrid format allows you to attend remotely online and/or in person in Neustadt-Glewe.
Full-day classes run from 08:30 to 15:30.
The fee for the complete 11-module course is 4.500,00 €, including examination fees.
When booking the complete course, payment is due in two invoices.
Fees for individual modules are:
Module 1 – 250,00 Euro
Module 2 – 500,00 Euro
Module 3 – 250,00 Euro
Module 4 – 250,00 Euro
Module 5 – 250,00 Euro
Module 6 – 250,00 Euro
Module 7 – 250,00 Euro
Module 8 – 500,00 Euro
Module 9 – 750,00 Euro
Module 10 – 500,00 Euro
Module 11 – 750,00 Euro
An additional registration fee of 150,00 Euro is payable when you register.
You can download the examination regulations (German) and the participation agreement (German) here.
Advanced modules at a glance
For registered professional legal guardians
Deepen your knowledge of office organisation, communication, challenging guardianship situations and legally sound applications. These practical advanced modules take place online and can be booked individually.
200,00 € per module · 10 % discount when booking three modules · dates on request
Enquire about advanced modules View content and participation agreement (German)
Education & training
Advanced modules for professional legal guardians
Our advanced modules are designed for registered professional legal guardians who want to deepen their knowledge and make their daily work more structured, legally sound and efficient. The practical content is delivered in a compact format entirely online, ideal for busy professionals who still want to continue learning.
The modular structure allows courses to be booked individually or as a discounted package. Benefit from flexible learning times, direct practical relevance, exchange with experienced colleagues and teaching by qualified speakers, conveniently and from any location.
Module 1 – Office organisation
Module content
Learn to structure your guardianship office efficiently and organise day-to-day work professionally while saving time.
Reflect on your working methods and develop strategies for better self-organisation and the use of digital tools.
Key topics:
- Requirements for a functional guardianship office (furnishings, technology, shared offices)
- Information management and data protection
- Communication structures in everyday office work
- Time and self-management: planning, prioritisation and delegation
- Using digital tools and software
- External presentation: business cards, letterheads, website
Dates
On request
Module 2 – Communication with courts, public offices, authorities and relatives
Module content
Strengthen your communication skills in the context of guardianship law. Learn to communicate clearly, professionally and constructively with different stakeholders, including in conflict situations.
Key topics:
- Recognising and managing common conflicts in guardianship work
- Self-analysis: your conflict style and individual stress factors
- Communicating with relatives, courts and authorities: legal foundations
- Preventive measures to avoid conflict
- Practical tips for handling difficult conversations confidently
Dates
On request
Module 3 – Working with challenging clients with mental illness
Module content
Develop your ability to work with challenging clients. Gain practical strategies and legal and organisational guidance to ease daily work.
Key topics:
- Sharing experience of common medical conditions and challenges
- Strategies to ease workload: adapting office organisation and self-care
- Overview of support services: community psychiatric services, specialist doctors and outpatient support
- Integration assistance and care assistance benefits
- The limits of guardianship and opportunities for cooperation
Dates
On request
Module 4 – Preparing safe, correct applications to the local court in guardianship proceedings
Module content
Learn to draft applications in guardianship court proceedings accurately, clearly and in accordance with the law. Identify common sources of error and build confidence in submitting applications.
Key topics:
- Legal framework: FamFG, BGB, responsibilities and roles
- Typical application situations: e.g. admission to residential care, closing bank accounts, medical procedures
- Structure and wording of legally sound applications
- Analysing and developing text templates and checklists
- Avoiding errors: common formal and substantive pitfalls
- Practical tips and templates for everyday work
Dates
On request
Costs
Cost: 200,- € per module
All modules can be booked individually. Receive a 10 % discount when booking three modules
participation agreement (German)
The participation agreement is available to download here (German).
Competence course for professional legal guardians – PDFs & leaflets
pdf · training programme (German)
pdf · training programme (German)
pdf · training programme (German)
Your contact for registration
Bianca Schlicht
Neustadt-Glewe
Ludwigsluster Str. 3
19306 Neustadt-Glewe
Feedback on our programmes
Experiences from practice
What participants and businesses say about working with ibu.
Shamseh Ahmed
Participant from Berlin
"The course was excellent, both professionally and organisationally. The friendly atmosphere, personal exchange despite the online format and practical content based on real cases made learning lively and enriching. The trainers were knowledgeable and approachable, and the ibu gmbh team was always helpful. I have already recommended the course and look forward to seeing everyone again at the next professional conference."
Jean Gadow
"During the registration process, I discovered ibu gmbh's competence course for legal guardians, and the first contact convinced me to complete all 11 modules there.
Ms Schlicht's organisation was excellent: straightforward, reliable and personal. She was always available and ensured that everything worked smoothly at the start, including the technology and access details. I was able to begin the first module fully prepared.
ibu gmbh's trainers bring specialist expertise, practical case studies and interactive materials. Their many years of experience make the teaching lively and tangible.
The course has prepared me very well for my work as a legal guardian, and I can recommend ibu gmbh's programme without reservation. I already look forward to further training."
Moritz Thevissen
"The module I attended has prepared me very well for working as a professional legal guardian. The balance between the legal framework and practical experience is particularly helpful. Thank you also for the excellent, friendly organisation!"
Patrick Eckert
Trainer
"As a trainer, I always find the seminars very well organised and prepared, so I can concentrate fully on participants and the seminar content. There is also sufficient room within the seminars to respond to participants' wishes."
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Interested? Find out more!
Do you have questions about the competence course for professional legal guardians? Write to us for advice on modules, dates and the right starting point.
