Power of Attorney (POA)

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Posted and filed under Official Documents in Spain.

This is the process whereby you nominate someone to transact on your behalf, for example to buy or sell houses, open bank accounts and sign documents.

This can be between partners and on a reciprocal basis, giving both equal rights to effect transactions on behalf of each other. Also, this can be arranged for a third party, meaning that the purchasers/sellers of properties do not need to be present at the Notary when the sale takes place.

Power of Attorney can be given to one or two persons, for example, meaning that if one person cannot attend the signing for a property, the second person can go in their place and both represent the original Buyer/Seller. Spanish Solutions can offer this type of representation.
The POA takes place in the Notary, in front of the people transferring powers and a translator. The document is produced in Spanish if signed for in Spain, or in Spanish and English, if signed for in Ireland or UK.  It can be even emailed to other countries in the world as a draft, arranged at a Consulate or Public Notary and validated for international use with a Hague Apostille.

A POA can be arranged with an expiry date, and after this date the document becomes invalid. This means that the person holding POA can only transact on behalf of the individual for a limited period. If POA is granted for an indefinite period of time, the same people have to return to the Notary when they desire to revoke the Power.

However, do not forget a power of attorney is only for someone to act for a specific purpose for which an authorization is given and the associated tasks, for example, selling a house, Using a power of attorney afterwards for another purpose, without permission, would be illegal.

If you have any specific concerns regarding Notary processes, or if you have a question regarding living here in Spain, please email them to enquiries@spanishsolutions.net or call directly 966 761 741

22 Comments

  • Glenn Ryan

    Hello,
    I am selling my friends house here in Spain.
    She is due to come over and sign at the notary but with possible cancellation of flights due to Corona Virus she may not be able to attend.
    She would be happy to give me power of attorney to sign for her at the notary but I understand this can only be done at the consulate or embassy in the UK and that there may be a considerable wait for an appointment.

    As the signing date is in two weeks this is concerning.
    Would it also be possible to let me know what documents would be required for her to make this power of attorney for me to sell her house?

    Thank You

    Glenn Ryan

    • Nicola Ryan

      Good Morning Glenn,

      We understand your concern.

      The Power of Attorney can be signed at the Notary in the UK, so no need for the Consulate or Embassy. We would recommend your friend contacts her nearest Notary to confirm how long it will take to get the relevant documents apostilled, as some Notarys can get this done in a week and others longer.

      We can help you with the draft of the Power of Attorney for sure, we can have the draft of the power of attorney ready in 24 hours. We will contact you directly to discuss this matter further.

      Kind regards
      Nicola

  • Marie Malvern Marante

    Hi I am in the same situation that people cannot travel because of CoronaVirus and our Notary in Spain is booked for 26 March to sell a property. A person has Usufructo of the property in the UK and this needs to be cancelled. Can he give me POA without me going to the UK so I can deal with everything from Spain. Thanks

    • Nicola Ryan

      Good Morning Marie,

      Thank you for your enquiry.

      If the appointment at the Notary is 26th March , it would be highly unlikely that the documents would be back from the UK on time. Documents have to be apostilled at the Notary in the UK and this can take around a week or more, we are sorry. You could speak to the Notary and aks if they can put the date of completion back, if so then we can arrange the Power of Attorney, no problem.

      Kind regards
      Nicola

  • ANITA LUBY

    Hello, I’m in need of some advice regarding POA. I have a POA to deal with the sale of my parents house in Spain. Unfortunately due to the corona virus I am unable to travel to Spain to complete the sale so now need to create a new POA to enable a friend in Spain to deal with this. The current POA of gives powers for me to extend to another representative. I have been advised that you might be able to help me create a new POA that I can then sign in front of a notary in the UK, are you able to assist? I’d be grateful if you could get back to me . Thank you

    • Amanda Thomas

      Dear Anita, Sandra has been in touch with you by email regarding this, Kind regards

  • Peter Newall

    My brother & myself are in a similar situation to others here. We are in the process of selling our late mother’s apartment in Spain. The contract is due for signing this week but neither I or my brother will be able to travel owing to the pandemic. We are fortunate to have both a helpful notary and estate agent. The notary has previously drawn up for us different types of Power of Attorney concerning our mother & the apartment, whilst the estate agent has stated they are willing to be granted POA to sign the contract on our behalf. However – & this is what puzzles us – the estate agent is suggesting that the POA be drawn up in Ireland when we would be quite happy for it to be drawn up by our notary in Spain as they have done with previous POA’s. Surely it is preferable for the POA to be drawn up in Spain, given that that is the jurisdiction where it applies (BTW – both my brother & I have NIE’s, if that has a bearing)? Grateful for any advice.

    • Amanda Thomas

      Dear Peter, The first thing I would say is that you need a solicitor in Spain, not just a notary (even if you do not use us). A solicitor acting on your behalf with a sale is as important as in a purchase really. Especially in these State of Alarm times when things can go wrong unfortunately. So firstly I would strongly recommend that. Secondly the power of attorney, I agree with you, should be drafted according to Spanish law and of course in Spanish (even if in English also). It is good that you have NIES as at the moment the offices for those are still closed. Finally, I assume when you say it was your late mother’s apartment, that the probate when she passed away was done and it was transferred into your names in a new deed? With kind regards, Amanda ps. my email is sales@spanishsolutions.net

  • Dolores Mooney

    My daughter wants to purchase a small property in Ontinyent in Valencia. She wants to give her lawyer Spanish POE to be able to open the bank account and sign the deeds etc. She needs help to draft a POE (Spanish) which she can then sign here in London in front of a Notary and then to have the Apositlle stamp so that it can be couriered to Spain. I wonder if you can help

    • Jane

      Hi Dolores

      We received your enquiry direct and Nicola will e mail you the response.

      Kind Regards

      Jane

  • VERA POLIKOVA

    Hello ! Need to do POA from Canada for representation and authorization in Spain ! Do you help also o do electronic POA ? Please contact me
    Can you please

    • Jane

      Hi Vera

      If you are not in Spain you will require to do a POA with a notary in Canada and pass it to your Spanish legal representative. If you wish us to assist please contact us directly.

      Kind Regards

      Jane

  • Deborah

    I’m organising a POA in England so I can then, in Spain, act on behalf of a donor who is gifting me some money, and this way declare the “donación”. I am worried because I have read that some public notaries in England and Wales are not recognised in Spain. I have read they have to be authorised by an “autoridad legal” but there is no indication of what that means practically. Might you have an idea of how to check if a notary public will be recognised by Spain?

    • Amanda Thomas

      Hi Deborah, If it is a Public Notary and they can obtain a Hague Apostille from the Foreign Office they will be fine. It is that solicitors witnessing documents are not generally accepted, it has to be a Notary. If we can help at all with any further advice please let us know and where you are based in Spain. Kind regards

  • Miriam Howell

    I need to have power of attorney from my two sons in the Uk,my husband died 18 months ago and there is no will,I need to sell our apartment here in Gran Canaria,can you help me with information?

    • Amanda Thomas

      Dear Miriam, I am going to email you to explain about this. With kind regards, Amanda

  • Ewa Adams

    Three of us have inherited a property in Spain from our mother. Do we need all three of us to sign the POA at the same time and place. I myself could do mine in Spain but my brother and sister live in London.

    • Amanda Thomas

      Hi Ewa, No, you do not. You can do yours in Spain and your brother and sister in London together (a draft can be emailed and signed at a Public Notary there, then it will need a Hague Apostille for us in Spain). If we can help please let me know, with kind regards, Amanda

  • Beverley Chaplin

    Hi. My husband and I are selling our property in Spain. I live in Spain but he’s in the UK. Can he give me poa to sell the property if he is unable to attend? How would he go about doing this? Thank you.

    • Amanda Thomas

      Dear Beverley, Yes, it is but it would be more usual for him to give power of attorney to the lawyers dealing with the conveyancing of the sale for you. I hope we might be able to help you with this. We would prepare a draft power of attorney and email it to you to be signed by him in a Notary near where you live. It then needs a Hague Apostille from the Foreign Office so it could take a month or so to organise this, maybe a bit quicker. With kind regards

  • Jennifer Delfino

    Whilst living in Spain My son gave POA to a Spanish Estate Agent to sell his deceased fathers property.There is now the possibility of a sale… But my son has since relocated to the Uk the estate agent claims that the POA is no longer valid now he’s no longer resident in Spain with no spanish bank account. Is this true? And if so how can the sale proceed?

    • Nicola Ryan

      Thank you for your enquiry Jennifer,

      It would be best to go back to the agent and confirm the reason why the power of attorney can not be used. A Power of Attorney is valid no matter if the person that holds the POA is resident in Spain or not. The only reason it will not be valid is that it had an expiry date on it and this date has passed.

      If you need any assistance with the completion of the sale, please do not hesitate to contact us.

      Nicola

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