Signing your purchase without coming to France: power of attorney or remote appearance

This is the question that comes up most often with a buyer based in London, New York, Geneva or São Paulo: do you have to take a plane to sign? The answer is no, and since 2020 there have been three routes rather than two. This page sets them out, alongside our reference page on a guided property search.

The notarised power of attorney, the most common route

A property sale is recorded by a notarised deed received by a notary. A mandate given to sign such a deed must take the same form, under the rule of parallelism of forms: the power of attorney is therefore itself notarised, received by a notary. A power drawn up between private individuals, even signed before witnesses, even countersigned by a lawyer, will be set aside by the practice on the day of signing.

Drawn up in France, it is dealt with in a single appointment. Drawn up abroad, it goes through a local notary, then through an international circulation formality that depends on the country where you live. States party to the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961, which is most of Europe, the Americas and developed Asia, issue an apostille: a single stamp affixed by a designated authority, generally a ministry or a court. Countries outside the convention require legalisation through the diplomatic chain, which takes longer. A few bilateral conventions dispense with any formality.

Two logistical points matter. A power drawn up in a foreign language must come with a translation by a translator sworn before a French court of appeal. And the notarial function of French consulates, long used for these powers, has only been maintained at a small number of posts since 2019: better to ask the French practice which circuit it recommends in your country than to assume it.

Whom to appoint, and within what limits

Invariable practice is to give the power to a clerk of the practice receiving the deed. This is not a convenience: that clerk knows the file, has no personal interest in the transaction, and engages the practice’s professional liability. Giving the power to the seller or their agent creates an obvious conflict of interest. Giving it to a relative living in France exposes you to a misreading of a clause that person has no means of weighing.

The power given must be specific and precise. It names the property by address and land registry references, sets the maximum price, restates the essential conditions and the payment arrangements. A general power, of the “represent the principal in all their affairs” kind, is not enough and will be refused. That precision is your protection: the attorney can accept only what you wrote.

Allow two to four weeks between the request and receipt of the document by the French practice, depending on the country and the applicable formality. It is that delay, rather than the notary’s availability, that most often fixes the date of the deed.

Remote appearance, where the practice is equipped

The decree of 3 April 2020, made under the health emergency and then made permanent, opened up the remote electronic notarised deed. The notary receives the deed through a video system approved by the High Council of Notaries, verifies the parties’ identity, reads the deed to them, then collects a qualified electronic signature within the meaning of the European electronic identification regulation.

This route has two merits: it removes the transmission time for the power of attorney, and it puts you in the notary’s presence, where the deed is read to you and your questions answered, which a power of attorney does not allow. It has two limits: not every practice is equipped for it, and an appointment coordinated across two time zones is harder to fix than it looks when four people must be available at once.

Ask for it early, from the preliminary contract onwards, not three weeks before the deed. If the practice does not offer it, the deed may still be received by another practice acting jointly, but that is decided upstream.

If you do not speak French

The notary must be satisfied that each party understands the deed they are signing. Where one of them has no command of French, they call on an interpreter, who translates the reading and whose involvement is recorded in the deed. Some practices have bilingual notaries or staff, which simplifies matters without dispensing with the formality where the buyer’s language is not covered.

Do not treat this point as secondary. A deed received without the buyer having understood what they were signing is a fragile deed, and it is precisely in the clauses on easements, party walls and co-ownership charges that the surprises sit.

What has to be prepared from the preliminary contract

Three things are started at the preliminary contract and not after. The power of attorney circuit, because it depends on foreign authorities whose timescales are not negotiable. The escrow transfer, which presupposes a euro account and an international banking delay, a subject covered in the timetable from offer to preliminary contract. And the question of an interpreter, where it arises.

The rest of the path runs its course: the search and its fee, governed by the search mandate, and the division of roles between buying agent, estate agent and notary, which becomes very concrete on the day of signing.

You are nearing the deed on a French acquisition and cannot travel: the personal study offered by French Realty checks the circuit applicable to your country of residence and coordinates the practice, with your dedicated contact.