One of the challenges of buying a home abroad is chances are you will not be personally able to conduct some of the transactions required for the numerous documentations and paperwork. You have to fly back to your own country, either to your job or to your family. Even if you do have plans of relocating you may have to tie loose ends or oversee packing and other concerns. If this is true then you will need a Power of Attorney. This authorizes someone like a relative, friend or solicitor to handle your legal transactions. In Spanish it’s called Poder, which literally means “power:”.

A Power of Attorney is a document which is prepared and duly stamped at the notary. It is still possible to have a Power of Attorney drawn up abroad. The language used has to be Spanish. It also has to be “apostilled” according to the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961.

A Power of Attorney is crucial if you are not able to personally attend to the documents needed in buying a home, which is a main concern of foreigners or non-residents. A Power of Attorney must be drawn up if you are instructing someone to sign on your behalf. It authorizes another person to conduct certain transactions for you.

Here are some cases where you will need a power of attorney.

A lot of banks insist on life insurance when you take out a mortgage. If life insurance is compulsory it is important that this is mentioned in the Power of Attorney otherwise when you have this document notarized the process may be postponed because of that one technical default.

The bank is likely to insist you open a bank account with them. A bank is not allowed to open an account unless the person is physically there to sign for it. . However with a Power of Attorney which includes that the assigned person is allowed to firstly open the account and secondly the assigned person is allowed to withdraw from the account, then the problem is solved. It is also advisable that the assigned person is allowed to sign for the direct debit instructions.

However you do need to set guidelines for the Power of Attorney so that you do not become victimized by unscrupulous individuals. For example you need to set a limit on what the person can do, for how long that power takes effect, and how much power the person can have without getting your approval. Always make sure there is a time limit as well as a monetary limit.

If you are re-mortgaging or releasing capital from your property, the original Power of Attorney cannot be used unless the word “re-hipoteca” is included. Many completions have been delayed because of the lack of this power.