Until recently, German law neither authorized spouses to make surrogate decisions about medical treatments on behalf of incompetent or incapacitated individuals, nor to represent them in legal procedures if they have not been legally determined as caregiver or authorized to make decisions on behalf of their spouse prior to their incompetent state. This will now be changed: On the 21st of May 2021, the Federal Council of Germany adopted the "Legal Reform of the Custodianship and Caregiver Law", which will become effective on the 1st of January 2023. From that date, the German Civil Code will permit mutual legal representation of spouses regarding health concerns in which one person is incompetent or incapacitated and thus unable to make a decision or act autonomously. Paragraph 1358 GCC is officially titled "Mutual Representation of Spouses Regarding Healthcare Concerns", but is also being referred to by "Law of Emergency Representation for Married Couples and Spouses in Civil Unions" or "Legal Representation of Spouses in Healthcare Emergencies" in public discourse.