What is a Power of Attorney?
A power of attorney is a document that provides legal rights to an individual or company to act on behalf of another individual or company in all types of legal matters. For an individual, there are many reasons for requiring such a document, such as mental incapacity on account of dementia or other mental health issues, physical incapacity due to hospitalisation or inability to travel, or for any other reason that renders a person incapable of making decisions regarding legal matters, either temporarily or for the long-term.
There are many types of powers of attorney that individuals can choose from. An ordinary power of attorney can cover your financial affairs, whilst you are only temporarily unable to act or make decisions. This includes a hospital stay or your unavailability due to foreign travel and any other such reasons. Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) can allocate a person, attorney or an entity to take decisions regarding your financial affairs, health care and other vital matters, if you become mentally incapacitated or as a provision if you are no longer able to make sound decisions. In October 2007, Enduring Powers of Attorneys (EPA) were replaced by Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA), which cover similar instances.
Companies can also issue powers of attorney, endowing a certain employee, agent or lawyer with the legal right to deal with purchase of property, attend court proceedings, negotiate contracts and sign them or any other purposes, on the behalf of the company.
In the UK, the Office of the Public Guardian issues the power of attorney. These documents need to be signed by the attorneys and witnesses, along with the person or company representative who is having them issued, in the presence of a UK notary public or solicitor. The solicitor or notary public will need to witness all the signatures, sign the document and add a statement confirming their certification of the document, along with the date of attestation.
In many situations, the power of attorney might need to be used abroad. Such instances can include:
- A company or individual dealing with the purchase and sale of property abroad
- An attorney dealing with estates of expats living abroad
- Businesses issuing legal rights to overseas representatives to participate in legal matters
- Issuing power of attorney to a family member living abroad to deal with legal, health or financial matters in that country
- If the allotted person or firm would like to bring in changes in the document in another country.
In such cases, the power of attorney document has to undergo legalisation by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in London. Since the UK is a member of the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention, the power of attorney needs to be issued only with an apostille certificate from the FCO, in order to be legally recognised in other signatory countries of the convention. Please note that the power of attorney document has to be signed by a UK solicitor or notary public prior to FCO legalisation.
If the destination country is not a member of the 1961 Hague Convention, the documents will further need verification and attestation by the Embassy of the country, situated in London.
Please see the process as below that we follow:
STEP 1
Send Us the
Original Document
STEP 2
We quality check
documents internally
STEP 3
The document is
solicitor certified and then
Apostilled 24 hours.
STEP 4
If required, we take the
document to the required
embassy for legalisation
STEP 5
Documents Returned
Back to you Domestically
or Internationally
Power of Attorney
Legalisation
Processing Time: Please see pricing page
Pricing: Please see pricing page
Please use the dropdown menu’s for your document requirement. The pricing and document type will be generated after pressing the button below. Please note that to complete your order you will need to use the dropdown menus per document order. After the pricing table, you will then be taken to our order page. Following this you will be sent to our upload page to upload the documents which you can also complete later.
Service Inclusions:
- Solicitor Stamp
- FCO Submission and Collection
- Embassy Legalisations
- Precheck of documents
- Free Resubmissions
- Same Day Send Out
Start Legalisation Order
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Conclusion
The Power of Attorney is one of the most vital and common legal documents used in legal proceedings as well as personal matters abroad. It provides legal rights to company representatives, family members, legal representatives and others, to act on behalf of individuals and companies, when they cannot be present to take decisions.
In such instances, the concerned authorities in a country, which can be a court, government body, healthcare institution or a financial institution, can request for the document to be legalised, to be able to verify its authenticity. In the UK, the FCO provides the apostille certificate to Power of Attorney documents, so that they are accepted in other member nations of the 1961 Hague Convention. For other countries, further embassy legalisation is mandatory after FCO legalisation.
Legalisation.org.uk understands the intricacies of document legalisations, given our years of experience in such matters. We work with a vast network of individuals, consultants, solicitors, government and consular officials and more in the UK, to ensure that your documents are legalised in the fastest time possible. Our agents will guide you through the entire process and take charge of the documents on your behalf. The required documents will be safely delivered to you upon the completion of the process, for which we charge a service fee.
Send us an email at info@legalisations.org.uk, mentioning all your requirements and concerns. You can also call us at 0845 224 9482 for any queries.
The Most Common Documents We Legalise
Standard Personal Documents
- Birth, Marriage, Death Certificates
- HMRC letters
- ACPO, ACRO, Police Letters
- No Impediment Certificate
- Court Documents
Corporate Business Documents
- Incorporation Certificate
- Appointment Reports
- Mem & Arts
- Company Letters
- Companies House Certs
- Minutes & Resolutions
Educational Documents
- Degree, Masters, Diploma
- GCSE, CSE, O Level
- Professional Qualifications
- Training Certificates
- Transcripts & Reports
- School Letters
Frequently Asked Questions
To initiate the power of attorney document legalisation process, you will need to visit the UK FCO. Please note that the documents need to be witnessed by a UK notary public or solicitor, before the FCO issues an apostille certificate.
When you approach Legalisation.org.uk with your requirements, our agents will take care of the entire process on your behalf. We complete the process of power of attorney apostille certification through the following steps.
Steps for Legalisation of Power of Attorney Document in the UK
Step 1: Send us an email at info@legalisations.org.uk or call us at 0845 224 9482 to inform us of all your document legalisation requirements. Our consultants will inform you about the complete process, the turnaround time and the fees involved.
Step 2: You can send us the documents through courier or deliver them personally at our office in London. If you live outside the UK, you can send them through DHL or UPS international delivery services.
Step 3: We will submit the power of attorney documents to the FCO office in Milton Keynes for apostille certification.
Step 4: Our agent will collect the power of attorney document after legalisation by the FCO. If the documents need further embassy legalisation, they will be submitted to the concerned consulate department in London for further attestation.
Step 5: Your document will be delivered to you safely, after the entire process is completed. You can either collect the documents from our office personally, or we will send them through courier to the address mentioned in your order form.
The legalisation fee charged by the UK FCO is £75.00 per document. We will add our service charges of £105.00 + VAT to that for the standard package, which ensures delivery within 6 business days. You can also choose our express package, for a service charge of £135.00 + VAT, which enables delivery of documents within 2 business days.
Note that our service charges are inclusive of our in-house solicitor fee. If required, the solicitor can notarise the document, prior to the FCO apostille certification.
Legalisation.org.uk offers the most competitive rates in the market for individual and corporate clients, while ensuring that the process is completed in the least possible time.
You can send all the required documents for legalisation to our office address via courier or personally deliver them. Our agents will send back the documents through courier to your address. You can also collect them in-person from our office.
If you stay outside the UK, you can still send us documents for legalisation through the UPS or DHL international delivery services. We will get the legalisation completed and send the documents back to you via the same route.
Please remember to email us a scanned copy of the Power of Attorney document, intended for legalisation, beforehand. This helps in avoiding confusion or miscommunications, and the document can be sent back to you quickly.
We recommend that you find out whether the document needs embassy legalisation in London, after the FCO apostille certification. Countries that do not belong to the 1961 Hague Convention will not recognise documents with just an apostille stamp from the UK. Consular legalisation is mandatory for such countries.
In the UK, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is the sole authority permitted to issue the apostille stamp to documents, meant for use abroad. Since the UK is a member of the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention, all documents carrying this apostille stamp are legally accepted in other member nations.
However, please note that in order to get the Power of Attorney apostille from the FCO; it has to be certified by a notary public or solicitor in the UK. The notary public or solicitor must bear witness to your signature, along with the signatures of other witnesses, and issue a witnessing statement. The statement issued needs to include:
- Witnessed by
- Signed in my presence
- Signed before me
The 1961 Hague Convention abolished the requirement for consular legalisation for documents intended for cross-border use. However, if the destination country is not a member of this convention, the Power of Attorney will further need to be submitted to the concerned Embassy in London, to complete the legalisation process.
In the UK, the apostille is an A5-sized certificate, attached permanently on the reverse of the original document. The certificate contains 10 sub-sections:
- Country – The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
- Has been signed by – Solicitor or UK FCO official
- Acting in the capacity of – The official’s capacity as an authorised signatory
- Bears the seal/stamp of
- At London, the place of issuance
- The date of issue
- By – Her Majesty’s Principal Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
- Number – The registration number or document identification number
- Seal/stamp – The red seal bearing the government crest is attached here.
- Signature – The issuing officer will put their signature here
The certification is incomplete without the red seal bearing the UK Government crest, which is embossed on the document, on top of the certificate.
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