02 May What is a power of attorney and what is it for?
A power of attorney is a public documentauthorized by a notary which allows a person or company to designate another oneas their representative to act on their behalf in certain legal acts. This way, the representative must prove their authorization by displaying the authorized copy of the power of attorney.
The legal representative is free to revoke the power of attorney at any time.
Any person of legal age who is in full possession of his mental faculties may grant powers of attorney.
Among the most used powers of attorney are general, special and lawsuits .
General powers of attorney are those in which the attorney has the powers to act in all or some areas (they will have to be specified in the power of attorney) in general, such as the sale of a property, the acceptance of an inheritance, making a transfer, a collection, to get married, etc.
Special powersare those which authorize the performance of one or more specific faculties at the choice of the person granting the power. Among the most common of this type we find, for example:
Power to buy or sell: it is the power in which one person authorizes another to buy or sell a property.
Power to accept and distribute inheritances: it is the power that one of the heirs gives to the others so that they accept and distribute the inheritance without having to go to the signature that grants the power, receiving the right that corresponds to this inheritance.
The power of attorney for lawsuits is the one given to a person so that a lawyer and/or solicitor can carry out all the necessary actions in relation to any lawsuit that the principal has. In this case, an electronic copy of the power of attorney must be sent from the notary’s office to the lawyer’s registry.
The requirements are relatively simple to make a power of attorney. It is enough that the person who wants to give the power of attorney goes to a notary’s office with their valid DNI (or corresponding identification document). It is necessary to have the data (name, surnames and DNI) of the person to whom the power of attorney is going to be granted. In the case of powers of attorney for lawsuits, the names and surnames of the lawyers and solicitors must be known, as well as the Association to which they belong and their professional number.
If you are going to sell an apartment, we inform you about the documentation you need to complete for the sale process at our notary’s office.