Cyprus Power of Attorney From Abroad

A power of attorney is what makes the rest of it possible

Most of the work described in this section is done in Cyprus, in Greek, at counters that are open while you are asleep. The instrument that allows an advocate here to do it on your behalf is a power of attorney: a document in which you authorise a named person to take specified steps for you.

The chain is worth understanding before you start, because every part of it happens in a fixed order and each link is somebody else's rule. In outline: we draft the document here to suit the steps that actually have to be taken, you sign it where you live in the manner Cyprus will accept, it is legalised in the country where it was signed, it is translated where a translation is required, and it is then produced here.

A Cypriot diplomatic mission abroad will generally certify a signature but will not write the document for you. The London High Commission's published guidance says so plainly: it does not issue legal documents, the document must be prepared in advance, the signatory attends in person and by appointment with a passport or national identity card, and a small consular fee is charged for each signature certified. That gap, between a consulate that will witness and an institution that requires precise wording, is the gap an advocate here fills.

This page covers acting on an estate or on other Cyprus business from abroad. Where the matter is a purchase in progress, with a deposit due, a contract to be signed and deposited and a transfer of title to attend, the stages of that transaction are set out separately on our page on buying property in Cyprus by power of attorney.

What to send us before we draft anything

A clear copy of the passport of each person who will sign, the full name in the form it appears on Cypriot documents, an address, and the details of the property or the estate concerned. Tell us which country you will be signing in and roughly when. The drafting depends on all of those.

The chain, in order

Signature, legalisation, translation

The order is not interchangeable. A packet assembled in the wrong sequence is sent back, and the cost is weeks rather than money.

We draft the document here, in the form the Cypriot institution that will receive it expects

You sign it in the manner Cyprus accepts: before a Cypriot consular officer, or before a notary public where that route is open

The signature or the notarial act is legalised in the country of signature, by apostille where that country is a party to the Hague Apostille Convention

The document is translated by a sworn translator where a translation is required, and after legalisation rather than before

The original reaches us by courier, and the steps in Cyprus begin

Two points cause most of the trouble. The apostille or other legalisation attaches to the document as signed, so it comes after signature and before translation. And translation for official use in Cyprus is a regulated activity: it is the sworn translator's certification that is accepted, not a translation done by a capable relative.

Names that do not match

This is the quiet cause of more delay than anything else in this work. A grandfather registered as Χαράλαμπος appears on an English birth certificate as Charalambos, on a marriage certificate as Charalampos, on an Australian passport as Harry, and on the title deed as something else again. Greek has been transliterated into English and sometimes back into Greek, across three generations and two alphabets, and no two documents agree.

Cypriot institutions work from documents. Where the documents disagree about who a person is, somebody has to establish the connection between the names, and that is better done at the start than discovered at a counter. Send us every version of the name you have seen, including the ones you assume are mistakes. They are usually the useful ones.

The limits

What an advocate here can and cannot do for you

The promise that matters to a client three thousand miles away is not expertise. It is knowing exactly what you will have to do yourself. So it is worth being direct about the limits.

What can generally be done for you

Searches of the register and enquiries of Cypriot authorities and institutions
Obtaining certificates and clearances from community councils, municipalities and the boards that issue them
Filing, correspondence, attendance at the Land Registry and at Cypriot bodies on your instructions
Steps in a matter that has to be brought before a Cypriot court, where we are instructed to act
Signature of documents on your behalf, where the power of attorney authorises the particular act and the institution accepts it

What cannot

Anything the power of attorney does not authorise, which is why the document is drafted around the steps rather than in general terms
Facts. Where a statement has to be made on oath about matters within your own knowledge, it is yours to make, not ours
Acts where the institution requires the person themselves, or a specific form of authority it will not accept in another form
Acting for two people whose interests conflict, which is why we run a conflict check before accepting instructions from a family
Acting at all before we have identified our client, which is a professional requirement and not a formality we can waive for distance

A power of attorney in favour of an advocate is an authority to act, not a transfer of anything you own. It should be limited to what the matter needs, it should say who may act under it, and it can be revoked. If a document you are asked to sign appears to do more than the job in front of you, that is a reason to stop and ask, whoever sent it.

Questions we are asked

Can I sign in front of a notary near me instead of travelling to the consulate?

Often, and for clients in Australia and the United States it is frequently the practical route, because the nearest Cypriot mission may be in another state or another city. Whether a notarised and apostilled signature is accepted depends on the institution the document is going to and on the act being authorised, so ask us before you book anything. The one thing we would not advise is signing first and asking afterwards.

Does the power of attorney have to be in Greek?

It has to be usable by the body that receives it, and that body works in Greek. In practice that means either a document in Greek, or a document accompanied by a translation from a sworn translator, and we will tell you which we are preparing and why. Where we draft in both languages you will have an English text you can read before you sign anything.

How long does a power of attorney last, and can I cancel it?

Its duration and its scope are matters for the document, and it can be drafted to expire or to be limited to a single transaction. It can also be revoked. Tell us if you want it to end on a date and we will draft it that way.

Four of us are inheriting and we live in three countries. Do we each need one?

Usually each person who has to be represented signs their own, in the country where they are, and they arrive here separately. That is normal and it is not a reason to delay the whole matter until everyone is ready. We will tell you which steps can start with the signatures already in hand.

Is it safe to give a power of attorney to a lawyer I have never met?

It is a fair question and you should ask it. A power of attorney limited to defined acts, in favour of a named advocate at a registered law company, and capable of revocation, is a different instrument from a broad authority in favour of someone you cannot identify. We will tell you what our document authorises, in English, before you sign it, and you are entitled to have it reviewed by a lawyer in your own country first.

Request a consultation

Tell us briefly how we may assist

A few sentences is enough: what needs doing in Cyprus, who will be signing, and in which country. We reply within one business day. Please do not send confidential documents until we confirm we can act.

Kleanthous & Platis LLC, Nicosia. Telephone +357 22 680 330, office@kleanthousplatis.com, or klitos@kleanthousplatis.com.

Request a consultation

Or write to us directly at office@kleanthousplatis.com, or call +357 22 680 330.

Acting Without Travelling