Bundesländer
What applies in your federal state
The calculator, the split, the deadline and the plan dossier work for every federal state. Only two parts of the dossier depend on the state: the transfer sheet for the online application and the filled-in paper form.
Ten states with the shared online application: Berlin, Brandenburg, Bremen, Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen), Rhineland-Palatinate (Rheinland-Pfalz), Saxony-Anhalt (Sachsen-Anhalt), Schleswig-Holstein, Thuringia (Thüringen). Here you apply for free at mein-elterngeldantrag.de (in German). The dossier includes the transfer sheet for it.
For a paper application the dossier includes the official form, filled in — in Berlin, Brandenburg, Bremerhaven, Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saxony-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein and Thuringia. Not yet for the city of Bremen. The form is in German, as the state issues it.
With their own online system: Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria (Bayern), Hesse (Hessen), North Rhine-Westphalia (Nordrhein-Westfalen), Saarland, Saxony (Sachsen). These states' own portals: Baden-Württemberg (L-Bank), Bavaria (ZBFS), Hesse (Regierungspräsidium Gießen), North Rhine-Westphalia (Familienportal NRW), Saarland (Landesamt für Soziales) and Saxony. All in German.
Living in one of the six states with their own system?
Then your dossier has no transfer sheet and no paper form.
Everything else applies to you too. Look at the sample first, then decide whether you need the dossier.