Polish lawyer / Power of attorney for Poland
Power of attorney for property in Poland
Selling, buying or managing a flat, a house or land in Poland while you live in Australia. Radek Dajer, a Polish-speaking lawyer and notary public in Frankston, prepares and notarises your documents in English or in Polish.
What we help with
Choose what you need help with. Each one opens the detail further down this page.
Selling or managing Polish property from Australia
Many Polish-Australian families own a flat, a house or land in Poland, often inherited from parents. When it has to be sold, let or managed, travelling to Poland is not always possible. A power of attorney lets someone you trust in Poland, such as a relative or a Polish lawyer, sign for you.
Radek Dajer is a lawyer and notary public who speaks Polish. We explain the document to you in Polish, notarise your signature at our Frankston office and arrange the apostille, so the document can be used in Poland. We advise on Australian law. The notary in Poland who will act on the power of attorney confirms what it must contain under Polish law, and we agree the wording with them.
Check first
Before you sign anything, ask the notary in Poland who will handle the sale for the wording and form they need. Notaries in Poland can differ in what they accept from abroad.
A power of attorney for Polish property
Choose a topic to see what it involves and how we help.
A power of attorney to sell a flat, a house or land in Poland, or to sign the preliminary contract.
- Specific powers: a general power of attorney covers only ordinary management. To sell property, the power of attorney must specify the type of act, and in practice it names the property and what the attorney may sign (art 98 of the Polish Civil Code).
- Details the notary needs: usually your passport or ID card, your PESEL number if you have one, your parents’ first names, the attorney’s details, and the land and mortgage register (księga wieczysta) number of the property.
- PESEL reservation: a Polish notary must refuse a property sale, or a power of attorney for one, if the owner’s PESEL number is reserved in the PESEL reservation register (art 85a of the Polish Law on Notaries). Check this before the sale.
Under Polish law, a power of attorney for a property sale must be given in the same form as the sale itself.
- Notarial deed form: a contract to sell real estate in Poland must be made as a notarial deed (akt notarialny), and a power of attorney for that sale must be given in the same form (arts 99 and 158 of the Polish Civil Code).
- Signed in Australia: a power of attorney signed before an Australian notary, with an apostille, is often used in Poland. Whether it meets the notarial deed requirement is for the notary in Poland to decide, so we check the form with them before you sign.
- Language: we can prepare the power of attorney in English and Polish side by side. The notary in Poland may still ask for a sworn translation.
Australia and Poland are both parties to the Hague Apostille Convention, so a document notarised in Australia needs an apostille and no further legalisation.
- Who issues it: the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) is the only authority that can apostille Australian public documents. A private document, such as a power of attorney, becomes a public document once an Australian notary public has notarised it.
- What it certifies: an apostille confirms the signature, the capacity of the person who signed and the seal. It does not certify the content of the document.
- After the meeting: we can lodge the documents with DFAT for you and let you know when they are ready.
- In force: the Apostille Convention has applied between Australia and Poland since 14 August 2005.
If the flat was a parent’s, the inheritance usually has to be confirmed in Poland before it can be sold.
- Proving you are the heir: against other people, an heir proves their rights with a court decision confirming the acquisition of the inheritance or a registered notarial certificate of inheritance (akt poświadczenia dziedziczenia) (art 1027 of the Polish Civil Code).
- Tax: close family who inherit property in Poland may be exempt from Polish inheritance tax if they notify the tax office within 6 months, but only if they hold Polish, EU or EEA citizenship or live in Poland, the EU or the EEA (arts 4 and 4a of the Polish Inheritance and Gift Tax Act).
- More: see inheriting in Poland from Australia.
Step by step
Your power of attorney, step by step
From the first call to a document ready for Poland. We explain each step in Polish or in English.
01
Ask the Polish notary
Ask the notary or lawyer in Poland who will act on the power of attorney what it must say and in what form. We can contact them for you.
02
Prepare the document
We prepare the power of attorney, in English and Polish side by side if needed, and check the details: names, parents’ names, PESEL, the property and the powers.
03
Sign in person
You sign in person before Radek Dajer at our Frankston office. Bring your passport or other photo identification.
04
Apostille
We lodge the notarised document with DFAT for an apostille and let you know when it is ready.
05
Send it to Poland
You send the original to your attorney or the notary in Poland. Keep a copy for your records.
How we work
Visit our Frankston office
435 Nepean Highway, Frankston VIC 3199
Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 6:00pm, by appointment
Notarial appointments
In person at our office, by appointment. Bring your passport or other photo identification.
By train
A short walk from Frankston station, at the end of the Frankston line from Melbourne.
Parking
Wilson Parking at 453 Nepean Highway, street parking on the Nepean Highway, and the car parks at McDonald’s across the road and at Dan Murphy’s.
Common questions
Can’t see your question? Call 1800 776 529 or send us a message.
Often, yes. Polish courts and offices may require a sworn translation of documents in English. Ask the office or notary in Poland what they expect before your appointment, or we can ask them for you. We can prepare the notarial certificate in English and Polish.
No. We are an Australian firm and advise on Victorian and Australian law. We prepare and notarise documents for Poland, but their effect under Polish law is a question for a lawyer or notary in Poland, and we are happy to work with them.
We quote for the notarial work once we have seen the documents, before the appointment. The DFAT fee for the apostille is separate. For other work, we tell you in writing how we will charge before any work starts.
A Polish notary must refuse a property sale, or a power of attorney for one, while the owner’s PESEL number is reserved. Lift the reservation before the sale, and agree the timing with the notary in Poland.
Yes. Radek Dajer speaks Polish and can take your instructions and explain your documents in Polish. See our Polish-language page.
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Talk to us about your power of attorney for Poland
Tell us briefly what has happened or what you are planning. We reply to every enquiry within one business day, by phone, email or text, whichever you prefer.
What happens next
- Send the form.
- We reply within one business day.
- We arrange a time to talk, or ask for any information or documents we need first.
Prefer to talk? Call 1800 776 529, Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 6:00pm.