# American POA in Mexico



## Andreas_Montoya (Jan 12, 2013)

We went to a notary yesterday. He said I can send my wife back With an American power of attorney to sign the papers to sell the house because I will not be able to miss work. She has family in Mexico City where the realtor is. He said it had to be "stamped" or approved by the government but this is common so American papers can be honored here. Has anyone ever heard of this?


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

Why don´t you get a Mexican POA from the notary?


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## Andreas_Montoya (Jan 12, 2013)

citlali said:


> Why don´t you get a Mexican POA from the notary?


Not enough time, the job wants me now so we leave Monday. The Mexican notary assured us we can use a POA from NOB.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

Andreas_Montoya said:


> Not enough time, the job wants me now so we leave Monday. The Mexican notary assured us we can use a POA from NOB.


I gave a friend a Mexican Power of Attorney to pay my IMSS bill last year. We just got a form from a papeleria, had two witnesses sign it and it was done. The POA for selling a house might be more formal.


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## Cristobal (Nov 25, 2014)

TundraGreen said:


> I gave a friend a Mexican Power of Attorney to pay my IMSS bill last year. We just got a form from a papeleria, had two witnesses sign it and it was done. The POA for selling a house might be more formal.


Yours was a "carta de poder simple". Those work for certain things. For the house sale they will need a "carta de poder notarial". Mexican consulates in the US issue those.


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## ojosazules11 (Nov 3, 2013)

Cristobal said:


> Yours was a "carta de poder simple". Those work for certain things. For the house sale they will need a "carta de poder notarial". Mexican consulates in the US issue those.


This is what my husband and I did so he could do legal transactions regarding purchase and registering of our property without me having to travel down each time. Ours is a Poder Notorial General which we got at the Mexican Consulate in Toronto. The Poder General can be used for a variety of legal transactions and does not expire unless formally revoked. There is also a "Poder Especial" which authorizes the other person to act as your representative regarding a specific issue or transaction and expires once that transaction has been concluded. 

Here are links to the Mexican Consulate in Toronto (in Spanish and English) regarding "Actos Notoriales" / "Powers of Attorney"

Actos notariales

Power of attorney

Of note, it comments on POAs done by a Canadian Notary Public to be used in Mexico. I imagine it would be the same for a POA done by a US notary.

Quoting (bolding mine):

"If you prefer to grant a power of attorney before a Canadian Notary Public please be aware of the following:
As with any notarized document, a power of attorney must be authenticated before Ontario Management Board Cabinet Official Documents Services (or the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade) and *legalized by the Mexican Consulate, as well as registered before a Mexican notary public.*

*A certified translator must translate these documents into Spanish.*

*The power of attorney must be written according to the laws of Mexico and you are responsible for obtaining legal information regarding the granted power of attorney and its effects.*
You must be sure the power of attorney will be accepted for its intended purposes."

For Poderes / POAs done by the Mexican Consulate (in Spanish, logically), if either of the parties is not fluent in Spanish they will require an interpreter , preferably an official one, who also has to present photo ID. In my case I had to sign a paper stating that I am fluent in Spanish, that I understood the contents of the Poder and I did not require interpretation.


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

la general is the one to give between spouses or people you really trust..but the especial to your lawyer. A woman I know gave a general poder to her attorney to sell her house and he sold the money and kept the money. She had to go to court to retrieve the money and that was not easy and had to pay plenty to another attorney to recoup some of the money.


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