A power of attorney is a public document authorised by a notary allowing a person or business to designate another person or business as its representative to act on its behalf for certain legal undertakings, allowing the representative to prove their status as such by showing an authorised copy of the power of attorney.

The principal is, in practice, free to revoke the power of attorney at any time, by requesting that the representative return the authorised copy of the power of attorney. It is also expedient to grant a deed of revocation of the power of attorney and notify the representative of said revocation through a notary. This notary does not have to be the same notary who initially granted the power.

An electronic signature recognised by different notaries allows you to send engrossed copies of powers of attorney electronically and immediately between different notarial offices without the need to send hardcopies, thus saving valuable time when granting the deed in which the representative will intervene.

Spanish powers of attorney are recognised internationally. What is called the Hague apostille allows the legal effectiveness of a power of attorney to be recognised between countries who have signed the Hague Convention (to date, very few countries have not acceded to this treaty). The apostille consists of an annotation on the public notarial document certifying the authenticity of public documents issued in another country.

Types of power

There are different types of power, all of which require personalised preparation and drafting. Please consult Vives Pons lawyers and accountants so we can advise you and indicate which type is best for you based on your interests.

In some cases the intention is to delegate the greatest number of powers to the representative by including in the power of attorney a very wide range of acts that they may perform on behalf of the principal, this is what would be called a general power of attorney. But in reality there are as many possibilities to shape a power as there are acts or businesses where representation is possible. Thus, the power of attorney for lawsuits (which empowers a court representative to appear at trial on behalf of someone) is worth mentioning, the power to marry (if the spouses reside in different places), and, in general, any other power which may refer to acts allowing for representation.