A power of attorney is a document that authorizes another person or a lawyer in writing to represent or act on his or her behalf in certain circumstances. Power of Attorney can be general or special authority.
In order to issue a power of attorney, the person must personally go to any notary or consulate together with his identity or passport and have a power of attorney prepared in this context, declaring to the notary what powers he will give to the attorney. The name, surname, identity number, address and bar association information of the attorney to be represented must be notified to the notary public.
How to give a power of attorney to a lawyer in Turkey from abroad?
Those who want to give power of attorney to a lawyer living abroad and operating in Turkey can apply to Turkish consulates and have a power of attorney issued. Persons can give a power of attorney according to the law of their own country, except for the Turkish consulates. In a foreign country, power of attorney issued directly by the competent authority of that country must be certified by the Turkish consulate. This certification process is called ‘Apostille Annotation’. It is not possible to use the relevant power of attorney in any transaction in Turkey without an apostille annotation.
Below are the steps that you need to follow for the Power of Attorney (POA). Once you complete the steps, you can directly send it to Turkey to your legal representative without applying to Consulate.
1. You need to obtain a draft POA or request from your
representative or from the person handling your case in Turkey. The language of
the POA needs to be in English. (If you sign a Turkish document as a foreign
citizen in front of the Notary Public and follow the same steps, your POA can
be rejected by the Turkish authorities in the nature of a foreign citizen
issuing a Turkish document without a translator.)
2. You need to put your photo (passport size) right or
left up section and you will take the document along with your passport and a
copy of your passport to a notary public, sign it and notarize your documents.
You also need to request to get a “True Copy of Original” stamp on your
passport copy page. If the POA is more than one page sign and notarize each
page. Request a notary stamp to the picture you put on the POA if possible.
3. After notarizing your documents, you will drop off or
mail them to Secretary of State Office to get Apostillestamp. Apostille stamps
are only issued from the Secretary of State Offices.
(https://www.sos.ca.gov/notary/request-apostille/
4. After obtaining Apostille, your document is ready to be
mailed to Turkey to the person you assign with the POA. Our Office does not do
any authentications or attentions to the documents that has Apostille stamps.
Documents can be directly send it to Turkey. Your document as a whole package
will need to be translated from English to Turkish by a Notary Public in
Turkey. Your document is ready to be used. The link
https://www.icisleri.gov.tr/kurumlar/icisleri.gov.tr/IcSite/illeridaresi/Mevzuat/Genelgeler/Yabanc%C4%B1%20Resmi%20Belgelerin%20Tasdikten%20Muaf%20Tutulmas%C4%B1na%20Dair%20S%C3%B6zle%C5%9Fme%20(APOST%C4%B0L)%20Genelgesi.pdf
is the information in Turkish that the documents with Apostille stamps are
valid in Turkey as it is after following the steps above.
Can a power of attorney be given without going to the notary?
It is also possible to give a power of attorney without going to the notary. People can also go to Turkish consulates in the countries they live in and give a power of attorney to a lawyer. The person giving the power of attorney must go to the notary and sign it. The person who will be given a power of attorney and a representative does not have to go to the notary public or the consulate.
What are the types of power of attorney?
There are two types of power of attorney: General power of attorney and Special power of attorney. A power of attorney can be given in two different ways as temporary and indefinite.
The General Power of Attorney is the power of attorney given to the lawyer regarding the work to be done and which includes the authority to follow up the cases and attend the hearings. With this general power of attorney, the lawyer can perform some actions that we can describe as normal.
Special power of attorney, on the other hand, is a type of power of attorney that includes powers other than these general powers of attorney determined by the law. Special types of power of attorney are;
- Divorce case special power of attorney,
- Real estate purchase and sale special power of attorney,
- Special power of attorney for the company official,
- Special power of attorney for mortgage facility,
- Special power of attorney for inheritance transactions,
In order to carry out the above-mentioned actions, a special power of attorney must be given to the lawyer.
What is required to give a power of attorney to a lawyer?
There are some documents that must be kept by the people who will give power of attorney to the lawyer. In addition, there are also fees that must be paid when the transaction is made in the presence of a notary public. The following are the requirements when giving a power of attorney to a lawyer:
- ID card or passport,
- Powers to be given to the lawyer,
- Identity information of the attorney to
- Bar association information of the attorney
- Payment of Notary Fee,