Common Mistakes to Avoid When Getting a Power of Attorney Notarised
By Kanotary — Notary Public Serving Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Surrey
A well-drafted Power of Attorney (POA) is one of the most useful legal instruments you will ever sign. It allows a trusted person—your attorney-in-fact—to act for you when you are abroad, hospitalised, stationed on active service, or simply too busy to manage a transaction in person. Whether you are buying property in Dubai, accessing a family bank account in Spain, handling share transfers in the United States, or setting up a company in the Cayman Islands, the first hurdle is almost always the same: get the document notarised correctly.
At Kanotary, our notaries see hundreds of Powers of Attorney every year, drafted by UK solicitors, overseas counsel and DIY templates found online. Sadly, a significant number come to us after something has gone wrong—sometimes costing clients weeks of delay, wasted courier fees and lost opportunities. This in-depth guide highlights the mistakes we see most often and explains how to avoid them, ensuring your POA sails through notarial execution, apostille legalisation, consular validation or any other step your target jurisdiction demands.
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1) Mistake One: Using the Wrong Template for the Wrong Jurisdiction
One click on Google and you can download free, generic POA templates by the dozen. The problem? Each jurisdiction has its own statutory wording, execution formalities and attorney powers:
Civil-law countries (Spain, France, Portugal) expect very prescriptive language defining powers with pinpoint precision; a UK-style general POA may be rejected at the notary desk abroad.
Common-law jurisdictions (Australia, New Zealand, many Caribbean islands) sometimes ban gifting clauses unless explicitly included by statute.
Middle-East states like the UAE require Arabic translations and specific references to real-estate or company formation powers.
Before you even book a notary appointment, confirm with the receiving lawyer, bank or land registry which template is acceptable. At Kanotary we regularly liaise with overseas counsel to tweak wording so you avoid last-minute disqualification.
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2) Mistake Two: Overlooking Identity Requirements and Name Consistency
Foreign authorities scrutinise identity details far more closely than many UK clients expect. You risk rejection if:
Your passport lists “Jonathan A. Smith” but the POA names “Jon Smith.”
You recently married and now sign with a new surname but forget to mention your maiden name anywhere in the document.
The attorney-in-fact’s address or passport number is missing or spelt incorrectly.
At Kanotary we compare every data point in the draft POA against your passport, driving licence and any deed poll or marriage certificate you provide. Where necessary we insert an also known as clause or an explanatory schedule linking name variations—avoiding embassy queries and bank compliance hold-ups.
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3) Mistake Three: Ignoring Witness Rules—or Choosing an Ineligible Witness
Many Powers of Attorney specify one or more witnesses in addition to the notary public. Problems arise when clients bring:
Family members prohibited under local law (for example, Spanish notaries bar relatives within the second degree).
Attorneys-in-fact themselves, creating a conflict of interest.
Minors who cannot legally witness any signature.
Unidentifiable witnesses without passports or photo ID.
If the POA requires extra witnessing, Kanotary can provide impartial staff witnesses or advise you to bring a friend who meets the relevant criteria. We also ensure each witness signs in our presence, writes legibly and prints their full legal name to keep consular officials happy.
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4) Mistake Four: Forgetting About Capacity and Mental Competence
A POA executed by someone lacking mental capacity can be voided instantly—yet capacity is rarely documented when people sign at home or in hospital. Overseas land registries, especially in the USA and Australia, will sometimes ask the UK notary to certify capacity explicitly.
Our notaries are trained to make a brief capacity assessment, note it in the notarial register, and add a line in the certificate confirming we saw no evidence of incapacity. If the client is elderly or unwell, we can arrange a GP letter or mental-capacity certificate in advance, preventing challenges down the line.
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5) Mistake Five: Rushing the Notary Appointment Without Reading the Draft
It sounds obvious, yet many signatories turn up having never read the document that could grant sweeping legal powers:
A parent accidentally giving a child authority to sell all UK property instead of just a holiday flat in Marbella.
A business partner unknowingly enabling share transfers without board consent.
A spouse granting gifting powers large enough to trigger tax complications.
We allocate ample review time so you understand each clause and can request edits before the seal goes on. Our job is not just stamping a document but confirming your informed consent—a core principle of notary public practice in Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Surrey.
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6) Mistake Six: Omitting Initials on Multi-Page Documents
Many foreign registries insist that each page of a multi-page POA bears the principal’s initials; some demand the notary’s initials too. Skip a page and your couriered original could be rejected at the registrar’s counter:
Italian land offices require both principal and notary to sign or initial each page.
Indian consulates commonly return an unsigned page 2 for “missing initials,” derailing visa deadlines.
Brazilian cartórios insist every page is rubrica-ed to prevent page substitution.
Kanotary guides you through page-by-page initialling and attaches tamper-evident ribbon so the document cannot be disassembled or replaced.
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7) Mistake Seven: Using a Laminated or Poor-Quality Print-Out
Embassies and land registries reject ink-jet prints on flimsy paper, blurred signatures and laminated sheets that cannot be embossed. The FCDO Legalisation Office may also refuse to affix an apostille to non-standard paper.
We print final versions on heavyweight bond, apply wet-ink signatures, and leave enough margin for notarial seals and apostille ribbons. If your solicitor emailed a PDF, we proof it at high resolution before committing to print.
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8) Mistake Eight: Failing to Anticipate Apostille and Consular Requirements
A Power of Attorney for a Hague Convention country (France, Germany, Australia) often stops at the FCDO Apostille stage. Non-Hague jurisdictions (UAE, Qatar, China, Canada) add consular legalisation or in-country validation. If you structure your timeline around a single stage and later discover you need an embassy stamp or a Ministry of Foreign Affairs seal, you can miss critical completion dates.
Our notaries map out the entire route at the first appointment:
Draft check and notarisation in Oxford, Reading, High Wycombe or Guildford.
Apostille at the FCDO Legalisation Office.
Embassy or consulate legalisation (if required).
Local MOFA stamping or attorney registration abroad.
We also flag national holidays—like Eid, Chinese New Year, or US Thanksgiving—that can shut consulates for up to a week.
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9) Mistake Nine: Overlooking Translation or Dual-Language Needs
If your attorney will present the POA in a non-English-speaking country, many authorities expect an official translation bound to the original. Others demand a dual-language format, where English and the local language sit side-by-side.
Typical scenarios:
A bilingual English-Spanish POA for a property purchase in Málaga.
An English original with an attached Arabic translation for Dubai Land Department.
A dual-column English-Mandarin document for a business bank account in Shanghai.
Kanotary sources sworn translators, verifies their credentials, and ensures translation seals do not obscure apostilles or notary stamps. We also advise whether both versions need separate notarisation or one certificate can cover the bundle.
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10) Mistake Ten: Allowing the POA to Expire Before Use
Many Powers of Attorney include an expiry date—deliberately or by accident. UK drafters sometimes add “six months from signature” to mitigate risk, forgetting that foreign property completions, probate processes or immigration filings can drag on longer.
We review the validity clause and, if appropriate, extend it or insert a flexible “until revoked” provision so your attorney can keep acting without a new notarisation. When a short-term POA is truly necessary, we mark the calendar for clients and remind them to renew before it lapses.
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11) Mistake Eleven: Signing Without All Parties Present—or with the Wrong Video Link
COVID-19 spawned a wave of video-signing platforms, but not all are accepted internationally. The FCDO and many foreign consulates remain wary of purely electronic notarial acts:
A Zoom-witnessed signature may be valid for some UK land deals yet useless at the New York State Department when you seek apostille.
E-signature platforms like DocuSign can invalidate the POA for countries that require wet ink and seal.
Kanotary offers both in-person and remote notary appointments (where legally permitted) using platforms compliant with FCDO requirements. We advise when a physical appearance is non-negotiable—preventing you from wasting time on an invalid virtual signing session.
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12) Mistake Twelve: Skipping Professional Advice for Complex Transactions
DIY might work for a one-off letter, but cross-border corporate restructures, inheritance planning, and high-value real-estate deals demand the expertise of solicitors and foreign counsel who understand local filing nuances. Common oversights include:
Omitting replacement attorneys for redundancy.
Forgetting tax-clearance clauses essential to foreign revenue authorities.
Failing to reference specific land-registry folio numbers or company CRNs.
Our notaries are lawyers trained to spot red flags. If we see a drafting gap outside our scope, we refer you to a specialist solicitor or overseas attorney—protecting you from unenforceable powers.
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13) Preparing for Your Kanotary Appointment: Best-Practice Checklist
To wrap up the practical side, here are the essentials to bring to any Kanotary office in Oxford, Reading, High Wycombe or Guildford:
Draft Power of Attorney in Word or PDF so we can edit before printing.
Valid photo ID (passport or driving licence).
Proof of address if the attorney-in-fact is abroad and the receiving registry demands it.
Supporting documents: property details, company registration number, bank instructions—anything referenced inside the POA.
Contact details for any foreign lawyer or agent who will lodge the document, so we can clarify execution nuances in real time.
Include these items and you eliminate 90 percent of the errors that derail notarisation.
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14) Beyond Execution: Storing, Revoking and Renewing Your POA
The life cycle of a Power of Attorney does not end once the ink dries and the apostille or embassy stamp is attached. To avoid future mishaps:
Keep the original sealed POA in a secure, fire-resistant location.
Send certified copies to your attorney-in-fact and any local lawyers.
Use a revocation deed if you wish to cancel powers—then notify every third party who might rely on the old document.
diarise expiry or review dates; a five-year-old unlimited POA can be a liability if personal circumstances change.
Kanotary can issue certified copies, draft revocations, and schedule reminders so your attorney’s authority stays aligned with your intentions.
15) Final Thoughts: Turning Pitfalls into Smooth Progress
A Power of Attorney is only as effective as the notarial process behind it. From choosing the correct template and aligning identity details, to satisfying embassy formalities and translation rules, each mistake you sidestep today prevents costly delays tomorrow. By partnering with Kanotary—the notary public for Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Surrey—you tap into:
Local convenience with four regional offices and remote-signing capability where permitted.
Deep expertise in international POA standards, from the Hague Apostille to Chinese consular legalisation.
Proactive problem-solving that anticipates capacity, witnessing, translation and expiry challenges before they bite.
Whether you are assigning a relative to complete a Spanish villa purchase, empowering a colleague to sign US corporate filings, or authorising a law firm in Dubai to register a new company, our team guides your POA from first draft to final stamp with precision, clarity and efficiency.
Ready to move forward? Contact Kanotary today and turn potential pitfalls into a flawlessly executed Power of Attorney—so your affairs run smoothly, no matter where in the world life takes you.
Kanotary — Expert Notary Public Services for Powers of Attorney in Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Surrey. Your signature. Our seal. Global recognition.