Power of Attorney for Romania: Preparing It from Abroad

Legal position as at: 24 October 2026

Many people who own property, inherit assets or run a company in Romania live elsewhere. A power of attorney lets someone in Romania act for them: sign a contract before a notary, collect documents, represent them before a public authority or deal with an inheritance. A power of attorney signed abroad will only work if it meets Romanian form requirements, carries the right certification and is drafted clearly enough for the Romanian notary, registry or authority that will rely on it. This article explains how to prepare one.

What Romanian law says about mandates

Under Article 2009(1) of the Romanian Civil Code (Law no. 287/2009), a mandate is a contract by which one party, the agent (mandatar), undertakes to conclude one or more legal acts on behalf of the other party, the principal (mandant). The power of attorney (procură) is the document through which the principal grants that authority and through which the agent proves it to third parties. Under Article 1302, anyone dealing with the agent may ask for proof of the powers granted and, where the authority is in writing, for a copy signed as conforming.

Three rules from the Civil Code shape almost every power of attorney used in Romania.

Form follows the act. Under Article 2013(2), a mandate given for a legal act that the law subjects to a particular form must observe that same form, under the sanction that applies to the act itself. The exception is where the form is required only to make the act enforceable against third parties, unless the law provides otherwise. Since contracts transferring or creating real rights to be entered in the land register must be concluded in authentic form (Article 1244), a power of attorney to buy, sell or mortgage real estate in Romania must itself be an authentic, notarised instrument.

General powers are limited. Under Article 2016(1), a general mandate only authorises acts of preservation and administration. Under Article 2016(2), the agent needs express authority to sell or encumber property, enter into settlements or arbitration agreements, sign bills of exchange or promissory notes, bring court proceedings or perform any other act of disposal. A broadly worded power of attorney that does not name these acts expressly will not be accepted for them.

Duration. Under Article 2015, if the parties have not set a term, the mandate ends three years after it was concluded. A power of attorney intended for a longer process, such as an inheritance or a restitution file, should state its duration expressly.

Start with the act to be performed in Romania

The first step is not the form but the purpose. Write down precisely what the agent must do: sell a named apartment at a minimum price, accept or renounce an inheritance, vote at a general meeting of a named company, obtain land register extracts, file a tax return, open a bank account. Each of these may have its own requirements.

Ask the Romanian recipient early. The notary who will authenticate the sale, the trade registry, the bank or the court may have specific expectations about wording, the identification of the property, or the documents to be attached. Five minutes spent obtaining their requirements in writing can save a second trip to a notary abroad.

Identify the parties and the property consistently

Romanian notaries check identity data carefully. The power of attorney should contain:

• the principal's full name exactly as in the identity document used, date and place of birth, document type and number, and address;
• for a Romanian citizen, the personal numeric code (CNP); for a foreign citizen, the Romanian tax identification number if one exists;
• the agent's full identification data;
• for real estate, the land register number, cadastral number, address and surface area;
• for a company, its name, registered office and trade registry number.

If your name has changed since you acquired the property, through marriage for example, mention both names and bring the document that proves the change. Spelling differences between documents in different alphabets or with different diacritics are a frequent reason for delay.

Define the mandate precisely

A good power of attorney is specific without being so narrow that a small change in the deal makes it useless. In practice we recommend:

• naming each act the agent may perform, using express wording for every act of disposal required by Article 2016(2);
• setting limits: minimum sale price, maximum purchase price, payment terms, whether the agent may receive the price;
• stating whether the agent may sign ancillary documents, such as handover protocols, land register applications and tax declarations;
• stating whether the agent may appoint a substitute;
• addressing any conflict of interest, for example where the agent is also the buyer;
• stating the duration and, if appropriate, that the power of attorney is limited to a single transaction.

Keep working instructions that are not meant for third parties, such as negotiation targets, in a separate letter to the agent rather than in the power of attorney itself.

Execution abroad: three routes

1. Local notary and apostille

The most common route is to sign the power of attorney before a notary in the country where you live and then obtain an apostille from that country's competent authority.

Romania acceded to the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents (the Apostille Convention), which entered into force for Romania on 16 March 2001. A document notarised in another contracting state and bearing an apostille is accepted in Romania without further legalisation. The United Kingdom, Germany, the United States and Canada are among the contracting states; China has also been a party since 7 November 2023. Check the current status table of the Hague Conference on Private International Law for your country.

Make sure that the foreign notary's certificate meets Romanian expectations for the act in question. For real estate transactions the Romanian notary will usually need a document that is the equivalent of an authentic instrument, not merely a certified signature. Ask the Romanian notary in advance whether a signature certification will be enough.

2. Legalisation

If the country where you sign is not a party to the Apostille Convention, the document normally has to be legalised: certified by that country's foreign ministry and then by the Romanian embassy or consulate. Some bilateral treaties between Romania and other states remove the need for either apostille or legalisation; whether one applies should be checked for the specific country and type of document.

3. Romanian consulate

Romanian consular offices can perform notarial acts, including the authentication of powers of attorney, in Romanian. This avoids both the apostille and the translation. Availability, appointment times and whether the service is offered to non-Romanian citizens differ from one consulate to another, so check with the consulate before planning on this route.

Translation

A power of attorney drawn up in a foreign language must be translated into Romanian by an authorised translator, and the translation is usually certified by a Romanian notary. The apostille or legalisation should be translated too. Bilingual documents, with the foreign and Romanian texts side by side, can reduce the risk of discrepancies but still need to satisfy the Romanian notary.

If you do not understand Romanian and sign a bilingual document or a document at a Romanian consulate, the notary will want to be sure that you understand its content. An interpreter may be required.

Not everything can be done remotely

A power of attorney covers many steps, but not all. Some banks require the account holder to appear in person for identification. Some procedures require original documents that only you hold, and some authorities ask for personal attendance when identity documents are issued. Ask each institution in advance and plan these steps separately.

Revocation and termination

Under Article 2030(1) of the Civil Code, a mandate ends, among other causes, by revocation by the principal, renunciation by the agent, or the death, incapacity or bankruptcy of either of them. If you revoke a power of attorney, inform the agent and every third party who has received a copy in writing, and ask the Romanian notary whether the revocation should be recorded in the notarial registers so that other notaries can see it. Keep proof that the revocation was communicated.

Preparation checklist

When to take legal advice

It is worth having the draft reviewed before signing if the power of attorney covers the sale or mortgage of real estate, a share transfer, an inheritance with several heirs, a court case, or if the agent also has a personal interest in the transaction. Our practice prepares bilingual drafts and coordinates with the Romanian notary so that the document is accepted when it arrives.

This article provides general information on the law as at the date stated and is not legal advice for a specific case. If you have a question about your own situation, please write to us at