Powers of Attorney for International Clients: A Practical Guide

Overview

A power of attorney is among the most practical — and most frequently neglected — documents in any estate plan. For internationally mobile individuals with assets in multiple countries, the complexity is multiplied: the UK's Lasting Power of Attorney does not operate outside England and Wales, and most jurisdictions require their own documents, in their own format, signed and authenticated according to local rules.

This guide sets out the UK LPA framework, explains why international clients need separate documentation for each country where they hold assets, and provides a jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction overview for the countries where Global Investments' clients commonly hold property or financial assets.

This guide is for general information only. Laws change and individual circumstances vary. Nothing here constitutes legal advice. Always consult a qualified legal practitioner in each relevant jurisdiction.

UK Lasting Powers of Attorney

The Two Types of LPA

Under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (England and Wales), there are two forms of LPA:

1. Property and Financial Affairs LPA: Covers bank accounts, investments, property management (including sale and purchase), income, and all other financial decisions. This LPA can be used while the donor still has capacity (if the donor authorises this), as well as after capacity is lost.

2. Health and Welfare LPA: Covers decisions about medical treatment, care arrangements, and daily life — where you live, what you eat, who looks after you. This LPA can only be used once the donor lacks capacity to make the relevant decision themselves.

Both types should be considered: having only a financial LPA leaves your health decisions in a legal vacuum if you lose capacity.

Registering an LPA

An LPA must be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) before it can be used. The registration process takes approximately 20 weeks as of 2026. The implication is important: an LPA cannot be used in an emergency if it has not been registered. Planning ahead — ideally putting both LPAs in place and registering them well before they are needed — is the only way to ensure they are available when required.

The cost of making and registering an LPA in England and Wales includes a professional fee (typically £300–£800 per LPA with a solicitor) and the OPG registration fee (£82 per LPA as of 2026, with some exemptions).

Without an LPA: The Court of Protection

If you lose capacity without a valid LPA, your spouse, children, or other family members cannot automatically manage your affairs. The only recourse is an application to the Court of Protection to be appointed as your "deputy" — a supervised role that requires ongoing reporting to the court. The process can take six months or more, typically costs £3,000–£10,000 in legal fees, and imposes ongoing administrative obligations. It is expensive, slow, and extremely stressful during an already difficult period.

Choosing Attorneys

An attorney for a financial LPA should be someone you trust completely and who is capable of managing financial matters competently. Common choices are a spouse or civil partner, adult children, or a trusted close friend. Professional attorneys (solicitors or trust companies) can also be appointed — important where family relationships are complicated or where the financial affairs are particularly complex.

It is possible to appoint multiple attorneys, and to specify whether they act jointly (both must agree on every decision — safe but potentially impractical) or jointly and severally (either can act alone — more practical for day-to-day decisions). Replacement attorneys can also be named.

International Powers of Attorney

The Fundamental Problem: No International Recognition

A UK LPA is made under English and Welsh law and recognised in England and Wales. It is not automatically effective in Scotland, Northern Ireland, France, Spain, or anywhere else. Most jurisdictions have their own legal frameworks for powers of attorney and require documents made according to their own rules.

This means that an internationally mobile client who has:

• UK investments and a UK property
• A Spanish holiday home
• Cypriot bank accounts and a Cypriot property
• A UAE investment account

...needs at least four separate documents (or documents that have been authenticated for each jurisdiction) to ensure that their affairs can be managed across all those countries if they lose capacity.

Authentication: Notarisation, Apostille, and Legalisation

For a document made in one country to be used in another, it typically needs to be authenticated. The two main forms are:

Apostille: A form of authentication used between countries that are parties to the Hague Convention (1961). An apostille is a certificate attached to the document by a competent authority in the country where the document was made. Most EU countries, the UK, and many other jurisdictions are Hague Convention parties; a UK-notarised document with an apostille attached is recognised as authentic in those countries.

Consular legalisation: Where the Hague Convention does not apply (or in addition to apostille in some jurisdictions), the document may need to be legalised through the consulate or embassy of the destination country.

Specific Jurisdictions

Spain: For most practical purposes — managing bank accounts, dealing with property, making healthcare decisions — you need a Spanish poder notarial (notarial power of attorney) made before a Spanish notary. A foreign POA with an apostille may be accepted by some Spanish institutions but is often refused in practice. If you own property in Spain, making a specific Spanish notarial POA is strongly advisable.

Cyprus: Cyprus uses a notarial proxenio (proxy/power of attorney). For property transactions, the POA must usually be notarised and apostilled. Cypriot institutions will generally accept a properly apostilled UK document for financial matters, but a locally made Cypriot POA is cleaner and avoids delays. Cyprus is a common law jurisdiction with strong UK legal influence.

UAE: The UAE requires POAs to be notarised and then attested by the UAE Embassy in the country where the document was made, followed by UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs attestation. A UK LPA would need to go through this attestation process to be used in the UAE; in practice, for property or financial transactions, a UAE-specific POA made before a local notary or through the UAE courts is more reliable.

Thailand: For property transactions in Thailand (which are restricted for foreigners), a notarised and apostilled POA — or a POA made before the Thai Embassy in the relevant country — is required for another person to act on your behalf. The format is specific and must comply with Thai legal requirements.

Greece: Greece accepts apostilled foreign documents but has its own notarial POA process. For Greek property matters, a Greek notarial POA (or a foreign POA certified under Hague Convention procedures) is needed.

Updating Your Documents

Powers of attorney should be reviewed as part of your annual financial and estate plan review, and specifically when:

• You move to a new country and acquire assets there.
• You acquire property in a new jurisdiction.
• An attorney dies, loses capacity, or becomes someone you no longer wish to appoint.
• Your family circumstances change significantly (marriage, divorce, estrangement from a family member who was previously an attorney).
• There are material changes in your assets (large new investments, disposal of a property in a country where you held a POA).

A power of attorney that was appropriate five years ago may be outdated today if your life has changed.

The Enduring Power of Attorney

EPAs validly made under the old regime (before 1 October 2007 in England and Wales) remain valid for property and financial affairs, and can still be registered when required. If you have one, it continues to operate. However, EPAs only cover property and financial affairs — there is no health and welfare equivalent. If you have an old EPA and no health and welfare LPA, you should consider making one.

How Global Investments Can Help

Global Investments works with internationally mobile HNW clients across multiple jurisdictions. We do not prepare legal documents ourselves — that requires qualified lawyers in each relevant jurisdiction — but we coordinate across our legal networks to ensure that clients have the right documentation in place for every country where they hold significant assets.

We can help you identify the gaps in your current arrangements, introduce you to appropriate specialists in each jurisdiction, and ensure that the overall framework is consistent with your estate planning goals. Contact us to review your current position.