Powers of attorney across borders: what makes one work

A power of attorney is the instrument that lets somebody act for you in a country you are not standing in. It is the single most useful document in a cross-border life, and most of the ones people sign do not work when they are needed.

Why they fail

• Too narrow. A power drafted for one transaction will not cover the next one. Registries read them literally, and a power to sell does not include a power to sign a mortgage release.
• Wrong form. Many countries require a specific notarial form for property or company matters, and a document notarised in another country's format is refused regardless of content.
• Not legalised. Executed abroad, it needs apostille or consular legalisation for the country where it will be used, plus a certified translation.
• Expired. Several jurisdictions impose a validity period on powers used for registration, sometimes as short as months.
• Superseded. A newer general power can revoke an older specific one by implication, which surprises everyone involved.

How to make one that works

• Draft it in the country where it will be used, by a lawyer there, and then execute it wherever you are through that country's consulate or with legalisation.
• Name the acts specifically and add a general clause, rather than relying on either alone.
• Name a substitute attorney in case the first is unavailable.
• State the validity period deliberately rather than leaving it to a default.
• Keep the original safe. Many registries require the original document, not a copy, and a lost original is a new legalisation chain.

The ones worth having in advance

• In your home country, for a relative or lawyer to obtain civil documents, deal with a property, and handle tax and pension correspondence.
• In the country you live in, for a spouse or trusted person to deal with the property and the bank if you are travelling or incapacitated.
• A healthcare and financial power for incapacity, which is a different instrument in most legal systems and is the one nobody arranges.

All three are an afternoon's work while you are physically present in the relevant country, and they are impossible to arrange at the moment they become necessary.