The Power of Attorney is a legal document that is used by people to confer authority on someone else to legally act on their behalf. The Special Power of Attorney for Property in Pakistan is an authority given by a formal legal instrument wherein one person called the Principal, authorizes the second person who is called Attorney to act on his behalf. PoA legally allows attorney to act as the agent of principal and carry out tasks on behalf of the principal. The attorney acquires full-fledged or limited authority to make legal decisions about the person’s property, finances or medical care. The Different Possession of Property Law in Pakistan generally, a family member, spouse or friend is appointed as an Attorney through a Power of Attorney (POA) to make decisions in case of non-availability, disability or illness of the principle.
In general, there are two types of Powers of Attorney e.g. Special Power of Attorney and General Power of Attorney to sell property in Pakistan
1) Special Power of Attorney
Special Power of Attorney is for only a specific purpose which is explained in that deed of Special Power of Attorney. It serves specific purpose.
2) General Power of Attorney
General Power of Attorney is vast in scope unlike Special Power of Attorney. It means that Attorney may perform more than one job on behalf of the Principal and all his acts will be binding on the Principal as done by him and under his authority.
Registration of Power of Attorney
The property registration in Pakistan is quite simple. According to the Pakistani Laws under section 17 of the Registration Act, 1908. If the purpose of Power of Attorney is for any immovable property's sale or mortgage then it should be registered with the office of sub-registrar which has the jurisdiction over the area where the principal resides.
It must be taken care of that all the documents written as a Power of Attorney (PoA) should be verified by a Notary Public, Judge, any Court, Pakistan Consul or Vice-Consul, Magistrate or representative appointed by the Federal Government, and then it will be presumed correct.
Eligibility and Requirements of Power of Attorney
There is no any hard and fast criteria to qualify as Principle. Any Pakistani citizen who is a major, adult and according to law, above 18, is competent to enter into a contract, whether resides in Pakistan or outside Pakistan is eligible to authorize any other person through power of attorney to act on his behalf. If power of attorney is performed outside the country then Pakistani Embassy or consulate’s authorized officer will verify it and if the power of attorney relates to transfer of property then it should be registered in Pakistan with the concerned registrar. Power of attorney submitted via Embassy or Consulates are verified by Ministry of Foreign Affairs Pakistan and after verification, that does not take much time, the PoA can be exercised. Comparatively, it is a simple and easy process where you do not need to visit courts or go through rigorous process.
