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Latest News

NIE UPDATE AND PASSPORT REQUIREMENTS

11th June 2021

The Spanish Consulate in London has certain requirements for applying for an NIE number through the Consulate. This is by far the simplest and most economical way to obtain an NIE number for UK residents. You can also use this form to apply for a Certificate of Non Residence, if needed.

The guidance from the Consulate  is as follows:

To apply for a NIE or a certificate of non-residence through this Consulate General, please come in person with the following documents:

 1.  Valid passport and a photocopy of the photo/passport details page.

 2.  [Non British and Non EU citizens with UK residency must also provide a copy of the residence permit in the UK.]

3.  ONE EX-15 (NIE) application form.  

The EX15 form can be completed online or typewritten. Handwritten forms should be completed clearly using BLOCK CAPITALS and black ink.

The forms must be signed at the Consulate.

 4. ONE 790 application form. This form is to accompany payment of the NIE fee.

THE FEE -

  *   NIE:£8.10

  *   CERTIFICATES OF NON-RESIDENCE: £6.00

You must present the documents and sign them at the Consulate, in person. Appointments are compulsory and the opening hours are between 09:15 and 13:00, Monday to Friday. The Consulate's Legalisation Department releases new appointments every Friday. ONE APPOINTMENT PER APPLICANT

It will take about 3 weeks to receive your NIE when you apply at the Consulate.

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Do you need a Will for property outside the UK?

18th November 2020

In short, yes you do! If you have assets overseas you need to ensure that you have a valid Will that covers those assets. Your foreign WIll would be a separate foreign Will in addition to your UK Will. It is important for you to know that the English rules of intestacy rules may not be the same in the country where your assets are located.

For example, if you own property in Spain, your property does not simply pass to your partner or spouse on your death. If you do not have a valid Spanish Will, the property will usually pass 50% to your spouse and 50% to your children. If your children are under 18 at the time of your death, your spouse will not be able to sell the property in Spain without an expensive court order from the UK confirming that the children can consent to the sale. This is because children cannot own property in the UK in their own names and therefore they cannot sell property either in the UK or abroad.

We cannot give specific legal advice regarding foreign Wills but we strongly recommend that you obtain independent legal advice from a lawyer that is qualified to deal with Wills and Probate in the country in which your assets are located. You should also ensure that your British legal advisor is aware of the foreign assets when preparing or altering your UK Will.

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Brexit: Poder on!

31st January 2020

A Power of At­tor­ney (in Spanish referred to as a "Poder") can be given to one or two per­sons, for ex­ample, mean­ing that if one per­son can­not at­tend the sign­ing for a prop­erty, the second per­son can go in their place and both rep­res­ent the ori­ginal Buyer/​Seller. The POA is executed in the presence of a Not­ary as a deed and is often pro­duced in both Span­ish and English so that both the donor and the Notary understand the document. A POA can be ar­ranged with an ex­piry date, and after this date the doc­u­ment be­comes in­valid. This means that the per­son hold­ing the power under the POA can only trans­act on be­half of the in­di­vidual for a lim­ited period. If the POA is gran­ted for an in­def­in­ite period of time, the donor can sign deed of revocation to reoke the power given to the attorney.

Once the POA has been signed by the donor and the Notary (in the presence of a witness althoug the Notary will often act as the witness as well) the Notary will then send the document to the Foreign & Commonwealth Office to be stamped with an Apostille (a requirement of the Hague Convention) which confirms the authority of the Notary. When executing and notarising Spanish powers of attorney the Spanish authorities will insist that a copy the passport of the donor(s) be attached to the Poder. This is of particular importance when the Poder is granting the power to apply for an NIE number.

However, we have learnt that since the withdrawal of the UK from the EU, Spanish authorities will be treating EU applicants as non-EU citizens. As such they will require a copy of every page of the donor’s passport including the cover be attached to Powers of Attorney for Spain (and presumably for every other EU country). We hope that some Spanish authorities will not enforce this additional requirement during the 2020 transition period and will agree an alternative arrangement.

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The difference between a solicitor and a notary

30th August 2019

The profession of Notary and Solicitor are quite separate and independent, perform different  functions and are separately regulated.

Unlike Solicitors, qualification as a Notary requires a detailed study of and examination in private international law, as well as the requirements of overseas jurisdictions as to the form in which documents should be executed and delivered, including any formalities such as the Apostille and Embassy legalisation. Notaries are qualified to advise in these areas, as well as Notarial practice generally and are also insured to deal with foreign documents.

Unlike Solicitors, a Notary maintains a register and protocol of all instruments authorised in his or her presence, ensuring the highest degree of record maintenance. This means that the Acts of Notaries in England and Wales may be relied upon for their accuracy, and are fully verifiable by those showing a proper interest.

Experience shows that using the services of a solicitor to deal with documents required for use overseas can and does lead to the rejection of the documents in the receiving jurisdiction. This results in wasted time and cost and usually considerable inconvenience to the clients when the documents are not processed correctly.

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The US and UK: Two different legal systems

18th July 2019

The constitution

The US operates a case law system applying a standard law system that uses past judgments. The British legal system does not have a constitution. It uses acts of parliament and precedents which can be traced back to the Magna Carta in 1215. Furthermore, Scottish law uses both civil and common law. However, there is no document as a primary form that will create and derive the code such as constitution in the US.

Judges

In the UK, the CPS (Crown Prosecution Service) prosecutes on behalf of the Crown. If they find enough evidence to pursue the case to the courts, they will subject the matter to the trial by jury. However, if there is nothing that could link the wrongful side with the breaking of the law, the case will not go to court.

Random Selection of Juries

In the US, there are counselors for the prosecution and defence that select and agree upon the juries. In the English system, the jury selection is random.

Barristers and Solicitors

The US legal system uses different terminology to that of the UK. For example, in the US, everyone who enters the courtroom is a lawyer, but in the UK, there are two types of lawyer: barristers and solicitors.
Solicitors offer a wide range of legal services such as drafting legal documents and offering advice. They can also represent clients in court. Barristers are the courtroom experts. The solicitor will often instruct a barrister to represent his/her client in court.

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Understanding powers of attorney

12th April 2019

A power of attorney is a deed by which one person authorises another to act on his behalf and in his name as his attorney, i.e. as his agent, either generally or in some particular matter. Attorney is someone who is appointed by another to act in his place. He may also be called donee of the power. The person who gives this power is known as the principal or donor. Their relation is one of agency.

By law, a corporate body can also appoint an attorney to act on its behalf. The Powers of Attorney Act 1971 prescribes the modes of execution of deeds by an attorney on behalf of a corporation. Depending on the consitution of the company, the directors may, by power of attorney or otherwise, appoint any person to be the agent of the company for such purposes and on such conditions as they determine, including authority for the agent to delegate all or any of his powers.

Our notary public practice handles powers of attorney for use abroad on a regular basis. Often the document will be in a foreign language and reference foreigh laws in the body of the document. We will sometimes need to translate the power of attorney using a qualified translator so that all parties can have faith that the signatories understood the content of the power of attorney. In France a power of attorney is referred to as a “procuraton” and in Spain as a “Poder”.
 

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Certificates of existence for Germany

22nd March 2019

We often find company clients intending to incorporate German subsidiaries required to produced such documents.

Whenever a company engages in a legal transaction in Germany, it is normally necessary to demonstrate its existence and the legal authority of its representatives.A certificate of existence and representation is a document that confirms the legal existence/good standing of a company and the authority/powers of its representatives to act for and on behalf of it.

A certificate of existence is of particular importance for matters involving the German Public Register (for example: the incorporation of a German company).

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The Chinese Embassy has introduced new rules for legalisation of documents

22nd March 2019

For any private matters the appearer is required to provide a photocopy of his/her valid ID (e.g passport or Driving Licence), furthermore, the name on the official ID copy produced must be exactly the same as the document(s) to be notarised - any discrepancy i.e different name(s) not shown then the document(s) will be rejected.

For commercial documents the Embassy requires the legal representative's passport along with a Companies House document which shows the legal status of the company and of its representative . All names need to be correct.

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