How do I sign a French Procuration (power of attorney) during Covid-19 lockdown? I can’t meet a Notary Public or Solicitor to sign.

How do I sign to purchase a French property or to sell a property in France during lockdown? How do I sign to accept an estate in France that I have inherited?

The legal inheritance deed (acte de notoriété) or sale contract (Acte de Vente) can usually be signed on your behalf in France. This is achieved by signing a French procuration (power of attorney) in the UK to allow the Notaire, or their clerk, to sign the final legal deed on your behalf in France.

The problem during lockdown is that you need to sign the Procuration (power of attorney) in front of a Notary Public or Solicitor, and then usually get the Apostille certificate of legalisation.

During lockdown it is, of course, increasingly difficult to physically meet a Notary Public or Solicitor in person in order to have your procuration witnessed and certified.

So what do you do? How do you sign a French procuration in lockdown?

Thankfully, the French had been very quick to react to the problems of signing procurations (French Powers of Attorney) at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic by introducing a temporary decree in April 2020 allowing the remote signing of procurations (French powers of attorney) by video conferencing, and they have now extended this to make electronic and video signing a permanent option. I am not sure that the UK has yet implemented similar measures, so not many UK lawyers are aware that remote video signing or Zoom signing (and electronic signing) is permitted for French documents.

This makes it a lot easier for clients to sign powers of attorney and French legal documents without having to visit the Notaire or Notary public in person. It is particularly useful if you are accepting an inheritance, or buying or selling a French property.

You can now sign by video conference, by contacting a specialist such as French Law Consultancy, subject to following the correct signing and certification protocols, and the appropriate Notary Public and specialist Solicitors can still obtain the Apostille Legalisation certificates from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office when required.

I am aware of a few, but not many, UK specialists who are familiar with, or able to meet the required protocols to satisfy the French requirements for remote signing, but at least there are some.

Please contact me for further information.

John Kitching

Director

French Law Consultancy