Signing title deeds for a property in Spain

Hi. I know this is legal stuff, but I'm not looking for a precise answer, it's just a general question about actually signing the documentation.

My wife and I are co-signaturies along with my father in-law on a Spanish property. We have no financial interest in the property and recently he has now decided that he wants us off the title deeds. I have no problem with that, but he assures us that we must sign the documentation in the Spanish solicitor's office. I however don't fancy losing several days off work and the expense of travelling to Spain just to sign a piece of paper.

So my question is, would it be possible to have the documentation Fed-Ex'd across to be signed in the UK or could we just give his solicitor a limited power of attourney to sign on our behalf?

Any help would be appreciated.

Gary

Hi - if you don't want to travel to Spain to sign the documents then you need to arrange a Power of Attorney - either to the lawyer or to anyone else.  You can arrange this through the Spanish Consulate in the UK and then have the documents sent to Spain, but you need to allow a few weeks for it all to be organised.

Hope that helps.

You don't even need to go to the Spanish Consulate. Find a local Notary and they will do everything on your behalf. Get quotes though, as they can differ significantly on cost.

If you are going to do a power of attorney, make sure it is valid in Spain. It needs to be apostilled!

If you do it at the consulate this is not needed.

Joan

I have done a similar sort of thing recently.

The procedure was that a contract/document/power of attorney in Spanish and English was sent by my abogado to the UK.

It was taken by the signatory to a Notary (You'll find one on the Notaries Society web site), signed in his presence, witnessed and stamped. - Cost around £50

The signatory then took it to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in Milton Keynes and had it 'notarised' with an Apostille attached.(This part can be done by post but takes longer - personal visit done same day) Cost about £30 I think,  If you go on the F & C Office web site it gives you full information.

The completed document was then returned to Spain 'signed for postage/courier'

Job Done

Sounds complicated but was fairly easy.

Hope that helps

I did a similar exercise, however the notary sent the document to the Spanish Consulate for the Apostille. I picked it up from the notary one week after first visiting him. I then took the POA personally to Spain, as I was going out anyway, but knew I couldn't be there for contract exchange. Cost me less than £80 all in, and as you say Maylin, it was a painless procedure.

Thanks for your replies.

I should be able to sort something out from the information given.

Gary