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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Power of Attorney??
Has anyone given POA to someone back home? Dad is pretty insistent upon both DH and I giving them POA. While I fully trust him, I feel like that's making me lose a lot of control about important things I should know about...
Can forms be signed and scanned, or does everything have to go through snail mail?
Re: Power of Attorney??
We did it both when I sold a house in the US and then when we bought a house in the US. If you are concerned about giving your dad your POA then I wouldn't do it, although I can't imagine why he would need it unless you are doing it for something specific.
Anyway, you will have to go to the US Embassy to get it notarized, since that is (typically) the only US approved notary overseas. I realize this can vary but I am 99% sure it is the only way. And they would need the originals.
[apologies in advance, I wrote a lot more than anticipated...]
My Disclaimer: My dad is an attorney, so I trusted his judgment for me to sign a POA in the first place, I really didn't do any research. I also don't know how much of what I listed that my parents have done for me while abroad they could have done without POA, so maybe I've used it and maybe I haven't... I haven't really thought about the differentiation before. I know their big concern is always my healthcare/safety, especially while I'm in rural ES/Guate--there are just so many political-economic-social things that could happen or have happened, especially in the regions/topics I've worked/researched/volunteered.
My Long Answer: I've granted my dad POA several times (whenever I go to Latin America for more than a quick visit), just so I've got someone I can trust to (legally) make decisions on my behalf. If I were in Europe (with consistent access to internet/important people, like doctors, lawyers, etc.) I don't know that this would be as important, but I usually end up in a rural area with little to no "outside" access, so it's been nice for me to be able to ask my parents to help me do seemingly small things (i.e. check my bank account/let me know periodically how much is in it, verify that I am in rural wherever and trying to use my debit card, change my flight if need be, make sure my automatic payments were getting paid, etc. Mostly stuff I could do online if I had an internet connection and the time, but I have also had medical issues abroad that they've asked my specialist in the U.S. about for me and then talked with my pharmacist about shipping me additional meds to make it to the end of my stay too).
I haven't done more than vacationed outside the U.S. since getting married, so this hasn't really been an issue for both my spouse and I, which I'm sure has it's own set of things to consider. And a big difference I recognize as I write all this is that I was usually traveling for an extended time/working between the U.S. and another country, so my bank accounts and bills were all still in the US, whereas you are fully invested in living in Spain, so if I were you, I would do some research to see how "necessary" it really is and what it would include. Your dad might be surprised at how little he would be able to access/deal with, and if he's like my dad and doesn't speak Spanish, how little he could help with your actual legal affairs (or medical or housing-related affairs, etc) if he did have POA.
My Short Answer: For traveling in rural Latin America, I appreciate that my parents are willing to be supportive of me and my work/research or whatever I'm doing at the time, by having POA. In any other Western/industrialized/developed nation, I don't know how much of an issue it would be...
Why does your dad want POA? Is it for one specific instance like buying or selling a house or does he just want to have it in general?
I love and trust my parents but I'd never give them or anyone a general POA unless I was incapacitated (which is pretty much the only reason it would be necessary).
I understand he wants it for me for taxes and/or finances, but I simply don't understand why he needs it for DH. His comment was that this way, we wouldn't have to wait for documents to cross the Atlantic to get signed...
Does he do your taxes? Do you not do banking online?
I mean, I've been abroad more or less for 4 years and have only come across an instance of having to sign something and mail it to the US once a year at tax time. It's not really a huge burden, and certainly isn't large enough to warrant giving someone a general POA (at least not IMO).
I guess I just don't see why it would be necessary even for you, but then again law school turned me into an untrusting liability-in-everything seer.
The issue in the past has been that after the accountant does the taxes, they've had to mail them to me and that causes delays.
This is why I asked you smart ladies. Thank you very much for your replies.
We just did it for our mortgage refinancing. We got it done through the U.S. embassy here in Paris.
I think I also gave my dad POA when I was living abroad about ten years ago, but since I couldn't find any of the paperwork, I got everything notarized all over again this time around.
My dad was visiting us in Paris when we did it, so I sent everything back with him.
As far as losing control, I think this depends on your relationship with your own dad. I feel a lot more comfortable knowing there's someone in the U.S. who can deal with things if I can't.
I've done two... both limited (i.e. for specific, discreet transactions-- car shipping and closing on our house, my brother and my friend, respectively).
I can't tell exactly, but sounds like your Dad is looking for a longer term relationship? A general power of attorney (i.e. to sign for you for ALL transactions/matters). It's not necessarily a bad thing, but personally, I'd focus on specific transactions (eg this year's taxes, etc) b/c it gives you more control!