Frequently asked questions - POA

Which language must the POA be in? In India, UK, USA and the common wealth all POA in English are legally recognized. In UAE POAs may need to be translated into Arabic. We assist with Legal English - Arabic translation
POA for USA / Europe (large countries / most Non gulf countries) - Can be signed in the presence of a notary public close to you. In some countries post offices and banks have a public notary too. Next, get documents apostiled by local authority eg. Secretary of State, Notary etc. Next, send the documents to the Indian Consulate with applicable fees and prepaid return postage envelope, check their website for latest instructions. They will attest and return. POA can now be sent to India
For UAE POA's Arabic takes precedence over English. Names of people and statutory bodies are written in Arabic first as per official documents and then translated into English.
Validity or Expiry of Registered Power of Attorney? The power of attorney is valid until you revoke it or until the specified task is carried out or until the date stipulated on the POA. We also undertake cancellation of POAs. UAE POA’s are valid for 2 years after which they need to be re-validated.
POA's are valid as long as Executor (POA giver) is alive. After which a probated Will document needs to be provided. POA can also be given by multiple people to one person, subject to some limitations. POA giver (executant) needs to sign POA documents personally in front of embassy / consulate officer. Detailed instructions will be provided to you on receipt of your order / payment confirmation
Is stamp paper mandatory? No. Indian consulates and embassies will attest plain paper POA's.
How To Revoke (cancel) a Power Of Attorney? Send us a copy of the POA you wish to cancel, we will review and advise. You are free to cancel a POA at anytime
Can the POA holder register the property in his/her own name? get payment in his/her own name? No, not unless expressly permitted in the POA.
Registration : In many cases, a general or specific power of attorney need not be registered. The Indian Registration Act does not make a power of attorney compulsorily registerable. However, the Supreme court has recently ruled that a power of attorney given to sell immovable properties should be registered.
Use of POA: POA’s protect your property if / when you fall seriously ill, comes under a travel ban, are incarcerated (jail), are overseas and unable to travel. Especially useful in Sharia Law countries. Without POA it could cost tens of thousands of dollars in lawyers fees, court fees, Min of Foreign affairs, Embassy attestations. Property could end up in hands of court which may delay settlement or rule in favour of un-intended siblings, creditors, business partners etc.
Technical/Legal wording of POAs: There are several formats available for POAs, however not all of them are accepted by the authorities. From our experience we have learnt to reduce technical jargon and make the POAs short, precise, using very simple language. This ensures that there is less chance of the the POA being rejected and/or or of misuse. We are often shown 10 - 15 page long POAs formats for a simple transaction like sale of a car / house. This is un-necessary, dangerous and counterproductive.
Templates / drafts : only upon payment
Specific and General POA: In the past if only one property was specified in a detailed description on a POA then it was called a Speific POA. However specific POA's are no longer commonly used due to the high chances of rejections / objections from the authorities due to even the smallest mismatch in property description on POA vis-a-vis official records. Instead of specifying the name of the property, it is now common practice to specify the property in general terms such as flat / house / land, in Mumbai city / Maharashtra state, belonging to Ms.ABC etc. This eliminates the chances that the POA is rejected.
Stamp paper / Notary regulations: Stamp paper, where expressly specified (eg. only for loan documentation etc) is now issued as E-stamp paper. A POA on e-stamp paper will be accepted in all states. In Maharastra POA's sometimes (not always) need to be additionally franked (approx 500Rs), this is usually done by the developer or bank without inconvenience to client, i.e. POA giver or receiver need not do it themselves or need not be present themselves.
POA for use in Dubai: To buy / sell property, vehicle, operate bank account in UAE / Dubai / Abudhabi - you need a Power of Attorney. A Dubai compliant, legally translated Arabic - English POA will be drawn up and delivered to you in UK, USA, Australia, Canada etc. If you already are an expat in the UAE and own real estate property in Dubai, it is recommended that you draw up and keep a Power of Attorney in favor of your spouse. A POA is a vital compliment to a UAE Will. Having a POA helps if / when a person meets with an accident and is paralyzed and unable to sign or is in hospital, is overseas when an important transaction needs to be done. POA is required upon death of family member to obtain court Legal Heir Certificate in UAE
A UAE General POA is in 95% of cases suitable for use in UAE only, not in India, UK etc. It is also not suitable for sale of properties in the UAE.
We recommend that you make a separate POA for India, UK etc. if you have assets and property there. In India, UK etc it is possible to make a single POA for both general purposes as well as property sale
A UAE Specific POA can be used only in the UAE, due to specific UAE requirements, only for sale and maintenance of UAE property.
We do not (not permitted unless we have a POA from the client/you) accompany clients to the attestation center. You will have to do this by yourself. It is a straight forward procedure.

No.	Which type of property do you wish to secure?	Location	Example - - Holder(s) - -		POA needed	Comment
No.	Which type of property do you wish to secure?	Location	Husband	Wife	POA needed	Comment
1	Immovable Property: Flats, Land etc	India	Yes		H to W	Buy, Sell, Rent, Services can combined in 1 POA
2	Immovable Property	India	Yes	Yes	H to W W to H	Buy, Sell, Rent, Services can combined in 1 POA
3	Immovable Property	Overseas	Yes		H to W	Sell POA separate Buy, Rent, Services POA separate
4	Immovable Property	Overseas	Yes	Yes	H to W W to H	Sell POA separate Buy, Rent, Services POA separate
5	Movable property: Bank A/c, Demat, Mutual Funds, Bonds, Deposits etc. (with or without power to take loan or pledge)	India	Yes		H to W	Can be combined with items 1, 2
6	Movable property	India	Yes	Yes	-	Can be combined with items 1, 2
7	Movable property	Overseas	Yes		H to W
8	Movable property	Overseas	Yes	Yes	H to W W to H
9	Services: Electricity, Airtel, Society, Lawyers, Court, Police, company formation / dissolution, economic department, chamber of commerce, free zones, district cooling, DEB, KEB, BSES, immigration, labour, post office, passport office, courier, courts, police, hospitals, customs, land department, BDA, HUDA, property developers, brokers, property managers	India			H to W W to H	For India can be combined with items 1, 2, 5, 6 For Overseas can be combined with items 7, 8

Sample POA