Dubai: If you are unable to travel and need to complete legal procedures in another country, an effective way to do so is to draft a Power of Attorney, transferring certain rights to a trusted agent in the country. A Gulf News reader, who is unable to travel to India to complete a property sale, wrote in asking how she could complete the process of giving her mother a Power of Attorney.
She said: “I am a UAE resident and want to sign a Power of Attorney and transfer my rights to my mum, for transfer of some property, which is under my name. Due to the current situation, I am not able to travel. What are the documents needed and the procedure to follow?”
What is a Power of Attorney?
A Power of Attorney (POA) is a document that allows you to appoint a person or organisation to manage your property, financial, legal or medical affairs, if you become unable to do so. In the document, one person – known as ‘principal’ – authorises the other person – known as ‘agent’ – to carry out certain legal transactions. In the UAE, a Power of Attorney is signed at notary publics, and once the process is completed, they become legally valid and acceptable to third parties and government departments.
Gulf News raised the reader’s query with Jihene Arfaoui, a Dubai-based legal advisor, who spoke about the step-by-step process of creating a power of attorney and getting it attested from the right departments.
“If the reader is a UAE resident, she can send all the documents to a notary office in the UAE. The reader would need to mention all the details, including full names, the rights that she wants to transfer and any legal action that she would like to specify,” Jihene said.
“The notary officer will contact her to proceed with the attestation and will send her a link to transfer the fees, then he will send her copy (translated) by email. The power of attorney then needs to be attested by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in the UAE and the UAE Embassy in India. Finally, when the reader sends her mother the Power of Attorney, she has to translate it and attest the translation from the Ministry of Justice,” Jihenne added.
If the reader is a UAE resident, she can send all the documents to a notary office in the UAE. The reader would need to mention all the details, including full names, the rights that she wants to transfer and any legal action that she would like to specify.
So, if you wish to give a power of attorney for specific reasons, these are the steps you would need to follow.
Step 1: Preparation of the Power of Attorney
The Power of Attorney needs to be drafted in both English and Arabic. The drafting procedure needs to be carried out with care, with the document clearly stating the powers that are being transferred by the principal to the agent. If not clearly drafted, the POA may not be accepted by other organisations or government departments, resulting in loss of time and money.
Once the power of attorney has been prepared, you will need to print the power of attorney in three originals for signing before the notary public.
Step 2 – Sign it before the notary public
In this step, you will need to visit any notary public in the UAE to sign your power of attorney. This process can also be done online, a service that is being offered by the UAE’s courts as well as private notaries. For the POA to be notarised, it is important for the principal to be physically present. The agent does not need to attend the notary public. According to Jihenne, the process is also possible online, through video conferencing options offered by notary publics and the UAE courts.
Once the document has been notarised, the notary will stamp and register the copy and hand over two copies to you. The POA is now legally valid for use.
The process can take anywhere between 20 minute to an hour.
Step 3 – Get the necessary attestations
Depending on the country in which the Power of Attorney will be used, the individual would then need to get the document attested by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in the UAE, as well as the country’s embassy or consulate. If the translation needs to be attested, the attestation needs to be done with the UAE’s Ministry of Justice.
Step 4 – Send the attested POA by courier
The reader may then be able to send the Power of Attorney to her mother, or her chosen agent, via courier, according to Jihene.
“It is important to ensure that the name in the document is identical to the names on the principal’s and agent’s identification documents or trade licences in the case of company names,” Jihene said.
Cost
The notarisation process can cost approximately Dh300. However, the overall cost can vary depending on the legal advisor you hire, the type of power of attorney you wish to draft (general or specific, for an individual or a corporation) as well as the countries in which you may need to get the POA attested.
