Power of attorney for my elderly parents - can anyone help?

Hi, Im hoping someone can help or point me in the right direction. 

My parents retired to Spain some years ago. They are now in their 80s and my Dads health is declining rapidly. He has been admitted to hospital twice in the last couple of months and the outlook is not looking good. Dad is of spanish nationality and mum is british. Although they have lived there now a number of years mum still cannot speak spanish and cannot look after dad or manage finances as Dad has always looked after her. Dad wants me to get power of attorney for him so that i can manage his finances and sell property if necessary. His faculties are declining rapidly so he cannot help me find out what i need to do. I have no idea where to start and i do not speak much spanish myself. I have done some research online and think that uk poa would not work in Spain. Has anyone had experience of this and can advise? It is quite an anxious time for me at the moment I would be so grateful for any advice. Thank you. Vic 

Hi Vic

Welcome to the Forum. You do not say where your Parents stay in Spain. This would be helpful to other Forum Users to reply to your Post.

Hi, I had a similar issue with my nan but she was based in the UK and could not travel to Spain to get a POA completed for her Spanish assets..We found a Spanish notary here in the UK that got everything arranged and then sent everything over to Madrid (we're based in Malaga) and got the signed copies etc back. Alternatively if you could get out to Spain, you could find a  laywer/notary and get this done. It shouldnt be a whole heap of trouble so dont stress. DOnt know if I was lucky but my lawyer and the banks were all really really helpful. Good luck. Where are you based?

Hello,

I assume that you are permanently resident in the UK? My suggestion is that you would need to travel to where your parents are , having previously arranged to see a local lawyer to draw up the power of attorney. You can do various searches on line to find english speaking lawyers in the locality and the lawyer should spell out what you would need to produce in terms of proof if identity etc. When buying a house in Spain I appointed by a local  lawyer  as Attorney on my behalf and I recall a number of legal appointments with a lawyer and later a Notary who authenticated the PoA in Spain. The PoA should give you everything you need to run things but you will need a spanish speaking contact you can trust to translate stuff etc. This could be performed on your behalf by your appointed lawyer, but that will cost you. Perhaps there might be a friend of your parents locally who might be able to help out a bit with translation etc?

A Notary, local to where your parents live in Spain can even visit your dad at home and have him granting this POA to you. You do not need to travel for this.

Well, if you are a permanent resident of the U.K and your parents are residents of Spain, the situation isn't that simple. However, you can still solve it pretty quickly. First of all, you need a good lawyer that knows international law and family law. Preferably, you need a Spanish lawyer that knows their laws and could find out the legal situation from the U.K. I think you could try and contact https://ucmjdefense.com. These guys are truly great. They helped me in a similar case, so I'm very thankful to them.

This message was last edited by hidenhev on 12/30/2021.

This message was last edited by hidenhev on 12/30/2021.