# Durable PoA required for US authority



## Arabella Eversleigh (10 mo ago)

Hi all, my father is a US citizen living in. Germany. He issued a general Power of Attorney to my mother in. 2015 signed by a German notary. He has dementia now and we had the PoA Translated and sent original and translation to 3 authorities in the US. 2 accepted, one writes that the PoA needs to be durable and must have that word in the title. I called and asked how to go about this - answer: you need to go to court. Can anyone help with more specific info?


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## *Sunshine* (Mar 13, 2016)

I think you need to obtain more info from the institution in the US regarding exactly what they want. The German _Vollmacht_ generally covers everything. Does the American institution want a German court to appoint her as the _Betreuerin_?


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## Arabella Eversleigh (10 mo ago)

*Sunshine* said:


> I think you need to obtain more info from the institution in the US regarding exactly what they want. The German _Vollmacht_ generally covers everything. Does the American institution want a German court to appoint her as the _Betreuerin_?


Hi and thank you for your response. The letter only states that a PoA has to be „durable“ and that this word must be included in the title, and since the German Vollmacht doesn‘t have that word, the translation hasn‘t either. Can we just explain that a Vollmacht is automatically durable unless revoked?


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## *Sunshine* (Mar 13, 2016)

Arabella Eversleigh said:


> Can we just explain that a Vollmacht is automatically durable unless revoked?


I think you first have to convince them that Germany is not governed by American law and a PoA written in German to comply with German law does not use the same words as an American PoA.

Perhaps the German law regarding the durability of a _Vollmacht_ will help: 



§ 170 BGB - Einzelnorm


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## ALKB (Jan 20, 2012)

Arabella Eversleigh said:


> Hi and thank you for your response. The letter only states that a PoA has to be „durable“ and that this word must be included in the title, and since the German Vollmacht doesn‘t have that word, the translation hasn‘t either. Can we just explain that a Vollmacht is automatically durable unless revoked?


For what it's worth, I recently had to specifically write up a 'Dauervollmacht' rather than a 'Vollmacht' for my daughter's school. 
I was surprised, because as far as I know, a Vollmacht has no specific time limit unless mentioned or it is revoked. (§ 170 BGB)

Does your Vollmacht say 'Generalvollmacht'? Because such a general PoA should even be valid beyond the passing of the person who has issued the PoA.


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

Before you go to court (with all the expenses that involves over there) you probably need to meet with a manager or at least the supervisor(s) of whoever told you that a particular word needs to appear in the title. The clerks who handle these sorts of things usually are just following orders. It's only at the supervisory level that any decisions can be made.

And then, before you "go to court" I would also find a local law practice to check with. They may be able to set a paralegal or some other office member to pursue the paperwork to have the German Vollmacht recognized (especially given that the other two institions did so).


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## kaju (Oct 31, 2011)

Bevdeforges said:


> Before you go to court (with all the expenses that involves over there) you probably need to meet with a manager or at least the supervisor(s) of whoever told you that a particular word needs to appear in the title.


Maybe a Vorsorgevollmacht...


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