Power of Attorney in Bulgaria

The power of attorney (PoA) is used in Bulgaria when there is a need to appoint a person (natural or legal) to perform legal actions on behalf of another person called “the principal” (the person who issues the PoA). This type of document can be particularly useful for foreign entrepreneurs who have businesses in Bulgaria but cannot be in the country to sign important documents. It is recommended that the appointed individual is trustworthy because the legal actions which are performed on the basis of the PoA have direct legal effect in the legal sphere of the principal. In other words – the principal is deemed obliged by the legal actions of the representative. For some legal actions the appointed person must be an attorney-at-law. For others, the PoA must be explicit, meaning that it should contain the specific and concrete actions which the representative might perform (differentiating it from the general PoA which contains phrases such as “… shall be deemed empowered to perform all legal actions which are considered necessary and appropriate …”). In some instances the power of attorney in Bulgaria must be notarized in order to be deemed valid.

Our company formation experts in Bulgaria can help you with any legal procedures and provide you with support concerning the drawn up of a power of attorney and notarizing it when necessary.

The content of a power of attorney

The empowered person may receive the right to perform any legal actions on behalf of the principal. The content of a power of attorney is thus adjustable according to the specific needs and nature of the concrete transaction or the specific type of business which is conducted in Bulgaria. A power of attorney might be issued as a general one or may serve only for a specific purpose – e.g. concluding a contract. Therefore, in Bulgaria, individuals may choose to draw up a general type of PoA that allows them to appoint a person that shall administer their affairs when they will no longer be able to do so.

In general, a Bulgarian PoA includes the rights for: extrajudicial representation, representation before all courts of law or arbitral tribunals (the representative must be an attorney-at-law) and any administrative authorities, entering into agreements, including arbitration agreements, entering into settlements, receiving and issuing payments, securities, dealing with matters regarding debt collection and litigation in Bulgaria, representation in inheritance matters and even representation in criminal matters (the representative must be an attorney-at-law).

Drawing up a power of attorney

A power of attorney in Bulgaria must contain complete and correct identification information regarding the empowered person as well as the principal. It must also contain the place and date when it is issued. It should be borne in mind that the document should contain only the principal’s signature but not of the empowered person. As already mentioned, the signature should be notarized in some rather frequent cases. The easiest way when the latter is needed is to sign the document before a Bulgarian notary or a Bulgarian consulate in your home country. However, it must be underlined that when the document is to be notarized before the Bulgarian consulate, the document has to be drawn up in Bulgarian language. If any of the aforesaid actions cannot be performed for some reason, you may sign the PoA before a notary in your home country but in this case you will need to perform additional actions to legalize it in Bulgaria. However, this option will take some weeks or months (depending on whether an Apostille stamp might be put on the document) and you will entail additional costs. Read here more about what Apostille is.

If there are no provisions in the document stating otherwise, a power of attorney’s effect will not expire until the death, loss of capacity to act (due to mental illness) or the termination of the legal entity of either the principal or the empowered person.. However, the power of attorney might be revoked at any time at the sole discretion of the principal. A time-limited power of attorney might also be issued for affairs that have a limited duration.

If you want to open a Bulgarian company, a power of attorney is the tool you need in order to empower another person to deal with all incorporation procedures, including any necessary banking activities.

For any matters regarding company registration in Bulgaria, please feel free to contact our experts.

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