Power of Attorney Translation

Prism Language Solutions translates powers of attorney in both directions: a poder notarial, procuration or Vollmacht into English for a US bank, title company, court or county recorder, and a US power of attorney into Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese or another language for a property sale, an inheritance or a bank account abroad, after the apostille so the apostille is translated too. The translation is certified, can be notarized where the recipient asks, and is prepared so a foreign sworn translator can adopt it where a country requires local swearing.

Last reviewed September 11, 2026 by Sarah J, Prism Language Solutions

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Foreign Power of Attorney Translation for US Use

A POA executed abroad and presented in the US is read by a bank, a brokerage, a title or escrow company, a probate court or a county recorder, and each needs the whole instrument in English: the grantor and attorney-in-fact with their identity document numbers, the powers granted, any limits and expiry, the notary’s attestation, the protocol or registry number, and every stamp including the apostille. We translate the notarial formulas literally rather than substituting US boilerplate. The certified translation carries a signed Certificate of Translation Accuracy naming the translator; where the recipient wants that signature notarized we add it.

The document is usually in Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Russian, Korean or German, and the names in it have to match the passport and the account or title exactly. Send the passport page with the POA.

US Power of Attorney Translation for Use Abroad

A POA signed in the US for a Hague Convention country is notarized, then apostilled by the competent authority for the state. In New York a notarized document goes first to the county clerk of the county where the notary is commissioned, then to the New York Department of State, which issues the apostille for $10 per document; for a country outside the Convention the Department issues a certificate of authentication and the consulate legalizes it. Only then should the document be translated, because the receiving notary abroad expects the apostille rendered alongside the instrument. Done backwards, the fix is a second translation.

Tell us the destination country, because it decides who may sign the translation. For many countries a US certified translation, sometimes notarized, is enough; for others the translation must be made or sworn locally, and ours becomes the working text for that translator. The apostille translation page covers the state and federal apostille routes.

Notarized Translation vs Certified Translation of a Power of Attorney

Certified means the translator has signed a statement that the translation is complete and accurate; that is what US banks, courts and USCIS mean when they ask for one. Notarized means a notary public has witnessed the translator signing that statement; the notary attests to the signature, not to the translation. Neither makes the underlying POA valid; validity comes from the notary who took the grantor’s signature and, for cross-border use, the apostille.

Ask the recipient in writing which they want. Banks and foreign consulates often say notarized; US courts generally accept the certificate, and in federal matters an unsworn declaration under penalty of perjury under 28 U.S.C. 1746 can replace an affidavit. We add notarization for a small fee; see notarized translation.

Sworn Translator Abroad vs US Certified Translation

Several civil-law countries restrict who may produce a translation their notaries and courts will act on. In Spain, translations for official use are made by a traductor-intérprete jurado appointed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and a US certified translation does not carry that seal. In Brazil, a foreign document needs a tradutor juramentado registered with the state board, and a POA executed abroad, even apostilled, is translated there before it takes effect. In Mexico, a US POA is apostilled, translated by a perito traductor and then protocolized by a notario público, who incorporates it into the notarial record and issues the escritura that makes it usable for property.

None of this makes a US translation useless: it is the certified text you send ahead, and the local sworn translator adopts or checks it, which is faster than starting from the apostilled original. We say which route applies before we quote.

Power of Attorney Translation for Real Estate and Banking

Translating Grantor, Agent and Powers in a Power of Attorney

Terminology is where a legal translator earns the fee. Poderdante and apoderado, mandant and mandataire, Vollmachtgeber and Bevollmächtigter are rendered as principal and attorney-in-fact, and the choice is kept consistent through the document. A poder general is not a "general power of attorney" in the US sense unless the powers listed make it one, so we translate the title literally and let the enumerated powers speak. A translator’s note explains a civil-law concept with no US equivalent rather than forcing one. Details on legal translation.

Power of Attorney Translation Cost and Turnaround

A POA is a legal document priced per source word, in the legal band of roughly $0.14 to $0.20 per word as a guide, with a per-page floor for a one-page instrument; a typical two- to five-page notarial POA with apostille is a fixed figure quoted in advance. Certification is included; notarization and hard copies are itemized. Ranges are on the pricing page. Scan every page including the apostille and the back of each sheet, say which country and which recipient, and send it through the quote form; delivery is usually within two business days, and same-day rush translation is available when a closing is fixed.

Questions we get asked