Why you need a Lasting Power of Attorney in Spain
Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA), well known and extensively used in common law jurisdictions, are legal documents which allow a person who is at least 21 years of age (‘donor’), to voluntarily appoint one or more persons (‘donee’) to make decisions and act on his behalf as his proxy decision maker if he should lose mental capacity one day.
In Spain, very few know that there are two almost identical legal documents that grant the same powers to a trusted person should the time of incapacitation arrive.
These documents are known as the “Poder Preventivo”, or Preventive Power of Attorney (PPA), and the “Autotutela”, or “Appointment of Tutor”, both of which are granted before a Notary Public.
The Preventive Power of Attorney is one where a person can deal with the financial affairs of the grantor, with immediate effect after a certain date or once a medical doctor declares a person incapacitated. For its part, the Appointment of Tutor deals with health and care decisions, daily routine or where the affected person should live (but will require judicial approval where the sale of assets is concerned).
It is recommendable to grant at the same time both the Preventive Power of Attorney and the Appointment of Tutor to avoid the lengthy (and costlier) process of applying for a judicial decision -appointment of tutor- following a clinically diagnosed incapacitation or intellectual disability because of disease or accident, a process that furthermore will require a separate procedure to sell real estate or other assets.
It is worth noting that both appointments can be revoked by the grantor whilst capable, and that Notary Publics in Spain have an obligation to communicate any such documents to the Spanish Civil Registry.