A power of attorney for your affairs in Portugal: consulate, local notary and apostille

Selling a plot of land, dividing an inheritance, sorting out something with the Tax Office: if you live outside Portugal, you will almost always need someone to represent you here at some point. The tool for this is the power of attorney (procuração).

A well-drafted power of attorney saves trips, holidays and money. A badly drafted one is refused at the notary or the registry office on the day, and everything has to start again.

What a power of attorney does not cover. Some acts or declarations are personal in nature. For the Portuguese declaration of heirs (habilitação de herdeiros), for example, having an attorney initiate and prepare the application does not replace the personal declarations on which it is based. The requirements of each act need to be checked.

Where to sign the power of attorney

There are two main routes.

At the Portuguese consulate. Consulates can draw up powers of attorney that are valid in Portugal, in Portuguese, with no need for an apostille or translation. The drawback is that appointments often have to be booked well in advance and the consulate may be far away.

Before a local notary, with legalisation where required. The power of attorney is signed in the country where you live, in the form appropriate to the act intended in Portugal. The apostille, where applicable, certifies the origin of the document, but it does not cure insufficient powers or guarantee that the document is valid in substance. Whether a translation is needed is checked separately. France, Switzerland, Luxembourg, the United States and Canada are all parties to the Apostille Convention.

In the United States, for example, a notary public has very different functions from a Portuguese notary. Either way, the safest option is to take a power of attorney text already prepared in Portugal for the specific act.

What it should contain and the most common mistakes

A power of attorney for property or inheritance matters must comply with the form and powers required for the act. Where a notary's involvement is needed, the law provides, depending on the case, for a public instrument, a document with the handwriting and signature recognised in the notary's presence, or an authenticated document. Certain powers of attorney, including those granted also in the interest of the attorney or a third party, require a specific form.

What must be clearly identified:

• who grants the powers and who receives them, with identification details and Portuguese tax number (NIF);
• the assets concerned, when the power of attorney is for a specific transaction;
• the powers needed for the case: to sell, to divide, to sign the promissory contract (contrato-promessa) and to deal with registrations and tax matters. The power to receive the price should only be granted if the client wants it, with suitable conditions.

Mistakes we see often:

• powers of attorney that are too general and do not give powers for the act that needs to be done;
• missing powers for the intended acts, such as signing the promissory contract or receiving the price where that authority was chosen;
• the attorney also acts in their own name or represents opposing interests, without the authorisation legally required for self-dealing or dual representation;
• foreign documents without the legalisation or translation actually required;
• names spelled differently from the way they appear in the Portuguese records.

So the rule is simple: first decide what is going to be done in Portugal, then prepare a tailored power of attorney, and only then sign it.

A power of attorney that works first time

At MGPS International we prepare powers of attorney for clients in France, Switzerland, Luxembourg, the United States, Canada and other countries. The process is simple:

1. We talk to you about what you need to deal with in Portugal.
2. We send you the text of the power of attorney, ready to take to the consulate or the notary, with instructions for your country.
3. We confirm the apostille and the translation, if they are needed.
4. Once the power of attorney is in Portugal, we deal with the matter and keep you informed.

Need to deal with something in Portugal without travelling? Use the initial assessment and tell us what you need. We will tell you whether a power of attorney solves your case and prepare the right text.

This article is for general information only and is not legal advice for any specific case.