Apostille Power of Attorney

A Power of Attorney (PoA) is a document that allows you to designate a person or organization to manage your affairs if you are absent or unable to do so. The person you select to take care of things for you is called an Agent.

There are 4 main types of Power of Attorneys:

• General PoA – This allows someone to manage everything for you
• Special PoA – to handle specific affairs (such as selling your house while you are away)
• Health Care PoA – to make medical decisions if you become unable to do so
• Durable PoA – goes into effect when your doctor deems you incompetent

Apostille Power of Attorney

An apostille is a form of authentication accepted by all countries that are members of the Hague Convention of 1961. If your destination country is not a member, then you must have the PoA legalized through that country’s Embassy or Consulate.

There are several instances in which you will be required to Apostille Power of Attorney. One example is that you have an overseas bank account or property in another country that you are unable to travel to and need someone to maintain.

A Power of Attorney document must include:

• Original signature (signed in front of a notary)
• Date
• No corrections or blanks

Once you have the PoA, you must notarize it before it can be apostilled.

The notary must ensure that they include the correct acknowledgment statement (some states have different requirements for this wording). It must be dated and have the notary’s signature and stamp.

Some countries request you have the Power of Attorney drafted in their country, then translated to English. Since the notary only verifies that it is you signing the document, they can notarize the PoA in any language.

But… some states require the Power of Attorney be translated to English before they will apostille it. At this point, you will apostille both the notarized PoA and the translation document. The states that require you to translate the Power of Attorney document to English before beginning the apostille process are: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and South Carolina.

If your destination country is not a member of The Hague Convention of 1961, and you need to follow the legalization process, you will need to ensure your Power of Attorney is translated to English before you can begin this process.

We understand the Apostille Power of Attorney can be both confusing and daunting. Contact Us here, and we are happy to answer any questions you may have about the apostille or legalization of your Power of Attorney.

Or you can simply let us handle all of this for you.

Working With One Source Process

At One Source Process, we specialize in apostilling or legalizing all personal and business documents. We have worked with just about every country and can have your paperwork quickly returned to you.

We will review your document to ensure all information is correctly filled-out, and work with you if there is an error.

With us, the apostille process is easy. Simply fill out our Order Form, and mail us your notarized Power of Attorney document (and translation if you have it). That’s it!

We will have the document apostilled or legalized. Everything will then be returned to you. It’s that easy. Let’s get started today!