Cancellation of Power of Attorney to be Hand Over by Notifier

What is a special power of attorney and how to cancel it?

A special power of attorney is a document of legal nature that allows one person, termed as an agent or an attorney, to act on behalf of under a specific set of conditions or circumstances.  A general Power of attorney has a broader scope of work which can be done by the agent on behalf of the principal. On the other hand, a special power of attorney allows limited set of actions under restricted circumstances. For example- a person who is not well or is travelling out of a country for a period of time may give his agent a certain right like business financial transactions, tax returns filing or management of property owned by the person. Once the situation turns back to normal the cancellation of special power of attorney takes place.

Most of the POA mention the duration of validity of the POA clause. Mostly POA are made for a special transaction or roles which the principal is indisposed to do himself. In such cases the POA automatically stands cancelled once the transaction comes to an end. However, there are some other cases where the POA will be cancelled on its own. These can be death of the principal, issue of revocation letter or act for which the POA was created has been done like sale of property or a financial transaction.

Procedure of cancellation of special power of attorney-

A special power of attorney can be cancelled if we do not want that person to hold the given powers. This process of taking the power or rights away from the agent is called as the revocation of the power of attorney. This is done by writing and signing a new document that makes it clear that a person doesn’t want his agent to act on his behalf anymore.

The document should be titled as “revocation/cancellation of special power of attorney” mentioned in bold and big letters at the top centre of the document. This needs to be written in block to make the intent of the document unmistakable. The format should be like this-

“On (….), I (………) bestowed authority to (…….) in a document titled “special power of attorney”. I, hereby cancel the powers given to (……….).”

This document has to be taken to notary public and signed in the presence of notary public. The document is then sent to the agent and the copies of the same will be sent to the people/bodies/banks who should know that the agent is responsible for the acts mentioned in the document on the principal’s behalf. The same can be published in a newspaper if there is a chance that the agent has done a considerable work on behalf of the principal and the principal is not sure how many people the agent has worked with.

Documents required for cancellation of Power of Attorney-

The documents needed for cancellation of POA are as follows-

1. Power of attorney copy.
2. Original Emirates ID or valid passport of agent and the principal.
3. Copy of notification of cancellation.

Steps for Cancellation of Power of Attorney-

1. The first step in cancelling a power of attorney is to draft a deed for the cancellation.
2. Then the deed needs to be notarized by the Notary Public.
3. The copy of the cancellation deed is to be sent to the attorney and banks.
4. Then the copies are to be sent to the banks where the POA was registered.
5. The last step involves preserving the copies of the cancellation document for future references.

Benefits of written cancellation of Power of Attorney-

Should you wish to cancel a power of attorney, it is always advisable to create a written revocation as it ensures that the original POA is not misused by any chance if it happened to fall in the hands of a wrong person.

Consequences of not cancelling of power of attorney-

If the POA is not cancelled, the following consequences may arise-

1. The agent can continue to act on principal’s behalf and do actions which are not in the interest of the principal.
2. if clever enough, the agent can misuse the wealth and property of the principal.
3. If the POA was durable POA, the agent can harm and exploit the principal to a great extent as he continues to retain the power in spite of the principal’s incompetence.

Agents’ disagreement with the decision

If agent doesn’t agree on cancellation of power of attorney, then he can proceed with the case to the court and the court gives the final judgement for both the parties.

Cancellation of power of attorney in UAE

The cancellation of power of attorney in UAE can be a complicated task if the rules and regulations are not followed. Notary public Dubai provide excellent services for POA cancellation.