AUTHENTICATION & LEGALIZATION
How to get things done in your country without leaving Canada?
By Natalia Bialkowska
August 18, 2022
* This article was originally published in Correo Canadiense. Its Spanish version may be accessed here.
AUTHENTICATION & LEGALIZATION
How to get things done in your country without leaving Canada?
By Natalia Bialkowska
August 18, 2022
* This article was originally published in Correo Canadiense. Its Spanish version may be accessed here.
Being a long-time immigrant myself, I can relate to the practical need of my clients to conduct and resolve their legal matters in their home country without leaving Canada. Especially due to COVID-19, teaching us how quickly travel can be restricted, the ability to send legally valid documents or designate a person to handle tasks on your behalf has become invaluable. Meanwhile, our presence abroad might be required to process inheritance, finalize a proceeding in court, execute bank documents, buy or sell property. Can you do it without needing to hop on a plane? Yes!
So, let’s dive into a mini-guide on how to get things done in your country remotely.
One of the most efficient ways to conduct personal or business matters, other than doing it yourself, is having someone do it for you. You can easily arrange to pass the authority and power to anyone over 18 years old via so-called power of attorney. You can designate one or more individuals. To be clear, people, whom you choose to manage your money or property on your behalf, do not need to be a lawyer. Simply, they must be worthy of your trust. A power of attorney may be general and as broad and limitless as you wish. Within the document, however, you may limit the granted power both time-wise (i.e., make the power be temporary and lasting from and to a specific date) and matter-wise (i.e., prescribing only specific issues you would like to have handled in your name).
It might be worthwhile to have your power of attorney drafted by a lawyer. There are specific legal requirements that the document must meet so that it is honored as legally valid. You will feel safer that all your wishes and instructions are properly verbalized and prescribed. Finally, remember that a power of attorney must be signed in front of a witness and notarized. Therefore, a visit to a lawyer is unavoidable!
A power of attorney, which you sign in Canada, will have to undergo two additional steps to be valid in your home country, namely: authentication and legalization. This process is equivalent to an apostille, which is a much faster process used by countries that signed the Hague Apostille Convention. Unfortunately, Canada did not sign the Agreement and therefore, requires authentication and legalization. Since the purpose of this two-step process is to prove the authenticity of your document, you must submit its original copy bearing the signatures and the notary’s seal.
Interestingly, a power of attorney is only one example of the public or legal Canadian-made documents that require to be authenticated and legalized to gain equal validity and power as the public or legal documents of your home country. The two-step process of authentication and legalization is often, if not always, required for such documents as a Canadian birth certificate, marriage or death certificate, educational records such as transcripts, real estate title, bank documents, and business records such as a certificate of incorporation.
Most importantly, before sending your power of attorney or any other formal Canadian document to your home country, you should either schedule a consultation with a lawyer or at the very least, call the consulate of your country to ensure that: your document is in its proper form (it fulfills all its requirements, does not require any certified translations), and you are authenticating and legalizing your document at the correct public institution.
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AUTHENTICATION & LEGALIZATION
How to get things done in your country without leaving Canada?
By Natalia Bialkowska
August 18, 2022
* This article was originally published in Correo Canadiense. Its Spanish version may be accessed here.
Being a long-time immigrant myself, I can relate to the practical need of my clients to conduct and resolve their legal matters in their home country without leaving Canada. Especially due to COVID-19, teaching us how quickly travel can be restricted, the ability to send legally valid documents or designate a person to handle tasks on your behalf has become invaluable. Meanwhile, our presence abroad might be required to process inheritance, finalize a proceeding in court, execute bank documents, buy or sell property. Can you do it without needing to hop on a plane? Yes!
So, let’s dive into a mini-guide on how to get things done in your country remotely.
One of the most efficient ways to conduct personal or business matters, other than doing it yourself, is having someone do it for you. You can easily arrange to pass the authority and power to anyone over 18 years old via so-called power of attorney. You can designate one or more individuals. To be clear, people, whom you choose to manage your money or property on your behalf, do not need to be a lawyer. Simply, they must be worthy of your trust. A power of attorney may be general and as broad and limitless as you wish. Within the document, however, you may limit the granted power both time-wise (i.e., make the power be temporary and lasting from and to a specific date) and matter-wise (i.e., prescribing only specific issues you would like to have handled in your name).
It might be worthwhile to have your power of attorney drafted by a lawyer. There are specific legal requirements that the document must meet so that it is honored as legally valid. You will feel safer that all your wishes and instructions are properly verbalized and prescribed. Finally, remember that a power of attorney must be signed in front of a witness and notarized. Therefore, a visit to a lawyer is unavoidable!
A power of attorney, which you sign in Canada, will have to undergo two additional steps to be valid in your home country, namely: authentication and legalization. This process is equivalent to an apostille, which is a much faster process used by countries that signed the Hague Apostille Convention. Unfortunately, Canada did not sign the Agreement and therefore, requires authentication and legalization. Since the purpose of this two-step process is to prove the authenticity of your document, you must submit its original copy bearing the signatures and the notary’s seal.
Interestingly, a power of attorney is only one example of the public or legal Canadian-made documents that require to be authenticated and legalized to gain equal validity and power as the public or legal documents of your home country. The two-step process of authentication and legalization is often, if not always, required for such documents as a Canadian birth certificate, marriage or death certificate, educational records such as transcripts, real estate title, bank documents, and business records such as a certificate of incorporation.
Most importantly, before sending your power of attorney or any other formal Canadian document to your home country, you should either schedule a consultation with a lawyer or at the very least, call the consulate of your country to ensure that: your document is in its proper form (it fulfills all its requirements, does not require any certified translations), and you are authenticating and legalizing your document at the correct public institution.