apostille for power of attorney
Must Be Pre-Certified

Power of Attorney

Your document must be pre-certified by a UK solicitor or notary public prior to being sent to us. We can then provide the Apostille only for this document.  Most orders are completed in just 1-2 working days all being well. If you also need translation or embassy attestation services the processing time will be increased.

Frequently used for:

  • Administering an Estate

  • Legal Matters Overseas

  • Allowing a Lawyer to Act on Your Behalf

Situations may arise in which you need someone to act on your behalf in a legal capacity. This can often necessitate the use of a power of attorney. When issuing a power of attorney to an overseas agent you may be asked to get an apostille to ensure the document is legally recognised in the country it is being presented.

Before sending this document to us, please ensure this is signed in the presence of a UK solicitor or Notary Public. The solicitor or notary should ‘witness’ your signature, add a statement confirming why they are certifying this and also date the certification. This cannot be done remotely, you need to use a local solicitor. Our solicitor cannot witness you signing the document.

sign document for apostille

Getting Your POA Witnessed

It is important that your solicitor correctly certifies the document. They must add a statement why they are signing the POA, for example –

  • Witnessed by
  • Signed in my presence
  • Signed before me

Documents of this nature are often used when dealing with the purchase or sale of an overseas property, managing the estate of an ex patriate, acting on behalf of a company internationally and for many other general purposes.

For guidance on the legalisation of a power of attorney please contact us.

More information can be found on our blog.

Choose the Service You Need

FAQs

When the solicitor or notary public signs the power of attorney, they must:

  • have a valid practising certificate
  • sign the document in the UK
  • state the action they have taken eg witnessed, certified a copy, confirmed as original
  • use their personal signature, not a company signature
  • include the date of certification
  • include their name and company address

The signature should also be an original ink signature. Digital or copy signatures are not suitable unless applying for an e-apostille. E-apostilles can only be issued when a solicitor has recorded a digital signature with the government.

No, unfortunately not. Your power of attorney has to be ‘witnessed’ when you sign it. We ask that you arrange for the document to be signed by a UK solicitor or notary public first. We can then provide the apostille.

When you are providing ‘power’ to someone overseas, it is important that you check the document will be recognised in that country. If you are engaging a lawyer to act on your behalf, the lawyer will normally provide you with a power or attorney to prepare in the UK.

You can find free POA templates online or buy a template from a legal document service. Please check the POA will be suitable for your purpose. We cannot offer advice on what your document should say.

Fast Apostille for Standard Documents?

Registered with the FCDO we obtain the apostille for you quickly.

Order online and send your document to us!

Apostille issued in 1-2 days.

Apostille Only

1-2 Day Service

£82

PER DOCUMENT

The power of attorney (POA) document shown on this page is not a legal power of attorney. It has been created to demonstrate what a power of attorney looks like. We recommend you obtain a legal POA from a reputable source and do not use our picture as a template.