General Power of Attorney
A general power of attorney grants broad authority across your affairs — banking, business representation, managing assets — rather than one defined act.
A general power of attorney gives your appointed attorney wide authority to act for you across a range of matters rather than one specific transaction. It suits someone who needs a representative on the ground over time: managing a portfolio, running day-to-day company business, or handling banking while you are abroad.
A general power of attorney is the broad instrument. It appoints someone to act for you across a range of matters rather than authorising one specific transaction.
It suits ongoing representation — someone managing your affairs on the ground while you are elsewhere, running routine company business, or dealing with banking over a period rather than on one occasion.
Where it works, and where it does not
Breadth is the point of a general POA, and it is also its weakness. UAE receiving bodies read powers of attorney narrowly, and several categories of transaction will not be accepted on a general instrument at all.
Property is the clearest example. Registries commonly require a power that names the property and the act, and a general power is refused even where its wording looks broad enough to cover the sale. The same caution applies in court matters.
If there is one specific transaction in view, a special power of attorney is almost always the safer instrument — it is more likely to be accepted and it limits what your attorney can do.
Language and form
For UAE use, a certified Arabic legal translation is normally required, and bilingual instruments are common. The order matters: attestation stamps are applied to the original, so a translation produced beforehand will not carry them and has to be redone.
Executed abroad
A power signed outside the UAE follows the attestation route for that country before it can be used here. That step runs on the foreign authority's schedule, not ours, and it is the part of the timeline you cannot compress — so start it first.
Draft to the recipient
Banks, registries and courts each have their own expectations of wording. Establishing which institution will receive the power, and what it expects to see, before anything is drafted is the difference between one execution and two.
Documents required
- 01 Passport copies of the grantor and the appointed attorney
- 02 Emirates ID copies where either party is UAE-resident
- 03 The draft power of attorney, or instructions for us to prepare one
- 04 Trade licence and authorised-signatory proof for a corporate grantor
- 05 Attestation chain where the POA was executed outside the UAE
Special requirements
- § A general power is refused for many property and court matters where a special power naming the act is required. Confirm the receiving body's requirement before execution, not after.
- § Corporate grantors must show that the signatory is authorised to grant the power — trade licence and, where relevant, a board resolution. A POA signed by someone without that standing is void from the receiving body's perspective.
Attestation procedure
- 01 Scope review — confirming a general POA is the right instrument
- 02 Drafting or reviewing the wording
- 03 Notarisation or attestation depending on where it is executed
- 04 Certified Arabic legal translation
- 05 Delivery, with guidance on presenting it to the receiving body
Insider tips
Frequently asked questions
A general POA suits ongoing, open-ended representation. A special POA names one defined act. UAE receiving bodies frequently refuse a general power where a special one was expected, so if there is a single specific transaction in view, a special POA is usually the safer instrument. Tell us what the attorney has to do and we will say which applies.
Often not. Property registries commonly require a special power that names the property and the act. A general power is regularly rejected for that purpose even where its wording appears broad enough — this is the most common failure we see.
For UAE use, yes — a certified Arabic legal translation is normally required, and bilingual instruments are common. The translation is produced after attestation so the stamps carry through.
Yes. A POA executed abroad follows the attestation route for that country before it can be used here. That step runs on the foreign authority's timetable, so start it early.
It runs until revoked or until any expiry written into it, but receiving bodies impose their own recency expectations — banks in particular often want a recent instrument. Check with the specific institution rather than assuming an older POA still works.
Yes, and revocation has to be executed and notified properly to be effective against third parties. Tell us if a revocation is what you need and we will handle it as its own matter.
You may also need
Power of Attorney Attestation
A power of attorney is only useful if the receiving authority accepts it. That usually comes down to one choice: general or special.
Processing
5-7 business days
Certified True Copy
When an authority wants proof of a document you cannot hand over, a certified true copy stands in for the original — verified, notarised and accepted across the UAE.
Processing
1-3 business days
Special Power of Attorney
A special power of attorney authorises one named act: selling a specific property, representing you in a specific case, transferring a specific vehicle.
Processing
5-7 business days
Tell us what you're working toward. We'll map every stamp.
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