Power Of Attorney (shortly POA) is a commonly used instrument to avoid the necessary but time-consuming travels for the title deed conveyance processes when you buy a property in Turkey. When you hand POA to someone, you are effectively saying by law “You may act on behalf of me for these powers” and for all transactions that are carried out with a POA given by you, you will be responsible yourself. Therefore, it is advisable to give Power of Attorney only to professional estate agents or registered and certified solicitors. Also, it is advised to give POA for a limited period of time and for only the powers which the attorney would need. It is strongly advised not to give general POA which contains full powers.
A Power of Attorney should only contain a power for necessary procedures and nothing else. This typically includes the power to buy real estate on your behalf as well as obtain electric and water connection. An attorney can not harm your rights if POA has only “the powers of buying property and water-electricity subscriptions”. You should consider twice when you give the power of selling property!
Celia Homes advises property buyers when issuing a POA, “leave the job to its experts”. Professional guidance is a key point. We have our own template POA’s for buying real estate in Turkey which contains exact powers necessary for a comfortable buying process. An estate agent makes it a secure and easy journey. We have a huge experience and reputation of “Zero Failure”
Issuing a Power of Attorney
You may issue the power of attorney at all notaries in Turkey. Authorizing a Power of Attorney takes two hours and is witnessed at any notary office within Turkey.
Foreigners who don’t speak Turkish will need to use a sworn translator, registered with the notary office. Turkish notaries have sworn interpreters who will be ready at the notary offices within 15 minutes when they are called. Each Turkish embassy and consulate act also as a notary abroad with an appointment. You do not need the attorney to be present when issuing a POA. You might need the proxy’s ID details, your passport and in some cases your photo.
Turkey is a part of “The Hague Apostille Convention”. If your country is also in this convention, you may use any local notary for giving a POA. Your estate agent may supply you template POA for the necessary powers. After issuing this POA at notary in your country, you need to apostille at the competent authorities like district governorate, municipality, etc. The critical point is some POA’s are valid only with photos in Turkey. Please ask your local notary to add your picture to this POA as demanded.
FAQ
Q: What is a power of attorney?
A: POA is a legal document that allows a person (the proxy) to act on behalf of another person (attorney) under notarial witness. The proxy has the legal authority to sign on behalf of the attorney for decisions regarding the attorney’s property, finances or medical care.
Q: What are the required documents to issue a power of attorney?
A: When giving POA in Turkey, you will be asked for your original passport and the translation of it, your tax number and two passport pictures (for some transactions only).
Q: How can I give a power of attorney in Turkey?
A: When you go to a notary office with the required documents, officers prepare the POA for you. A certified interpreter of the notary office will translate the information on the POA papers. After the signatures, you will pay the fees and get your receipts.
Q: Why do I need an interpreter to issue a power of attorney in Turkey?
A: All documents of notary office transactions are in Turkish language and it is an obligation to have a certified interpreter to translate the information on the papers before the signatures.
Q: What is the cost of giving a power of attorney?
A: The cost of giving a POA depends on what is written on the POA papers. Notary offices have certain prices for word character numbers, the price is calculated after the POA is written.
Q: Can I give a power of attorney if I am not in Turkey?
A: Yes. There are two ways of giving a POA from abroad. These are;
• After you make an appointment, you can go to the Turkish Consulate in your country and give a POA. Then you post it to your proxy in Turkey.
• This second option works only for the countries that have an apostille agreement with Turkey. You can go to a notary office in your country to issue a POA. Then you take your POA to a competent authority (district governorate, municipality etc.) to make apostille. Afterwards, you post the documents to Turkey. The documents are taken to a notary office in Turkey for notarized translations. The critical point is some POA’s are valid only with photos. Please ask your local notary to add your picture on this POA as demanded.
Q: Whom can I give a power of attorney to in Turkey?
A: You can give a POA to any person over the age of 18 in Turkey.
Q: Can the children under the age of 18 give a power of attorney in Turkey?
A: Children under the age of 18 can give a POA only when their parents sign.
Q: When is it compulsory to have a picture for the power of attorney?
A: For POAs which gives “selling power” must have attorney’s picture. It is not required for other types of the POA.
Q: Can I give a power of attorney to someone to withdraw money from my bank account?
A: Yes. Bank transactions can be done with POA in Turkey.
Q: A tax number is required to issue a power of attorney. How does this work if I give a power of attorney when I am abroad?
A: Your passport number is used in place of your tax number when giving a POA from abroad. In such cases, you should include the power to get a tax number in the POA, in this way your proxy can get your tax number on your behalf.
Q: How many attorneys can give power of attorney to one proxy?
A: There is no limit for the number of people that can give POA to the same person.
Q: What kind of transactions and services can be carried out with a power of attorney?
A: Any and every kind of leal transaction can be carried out with a POA. However, you should know about the following exceptions:
* If you want your legal documents to be delivered to or received from the courts, your proxy must be a lawyer.
* If you want to get any transaction done in the immigration office, your proxy must be a lawyer.
