What to check when a party acts under a power of attorney

When someone signs a deed or contract on behalf of another person, the verification work extends beyond identifying who is in the room. You also need to review the power of attorney that authorises them to be there — and to act in that specific capacity.

These are the four checks that need to happen before accepting the representation.

Matching the attorney's identity to the document

The starting point is confirming that the person presenting themselves as the attorney matches the description in the power of attorney itself.

That means comparing the full name and identification details shown in the power against the ID document the attorney presents. Checking only the name is not enough. Names can match while ID numbers differ. Or the name in the power may carry a middle name that the presented ID omits — a discrepancy easy to miss in a quick read.

The correct check is field by field: the full name as it appears in the power, the document reference (passport number, driving licence, or whichever form of ID the power specifies), and confirmation that the document type matches. If the power refers to passport number X and the attorney presents a driving licence, that does not establish identity against the power.

Reading the scope of authority

Confirming who the attorney is does not confirm what they are authorised to do. That requires reading the grant of authority in the power — carefully, and in full.

The most common gap is a mismatch between the type of authority granted and the nature of the transaction. A general power of attorney for administrative or management purposes does not automatically authorise an attorney to sell property, grant a mortgage, or transfer an interest in land. Those are acts of disposition, and a general management power typically does not cover them. The grant of authority needs to be read with the transaction in mind, not treated as a formality.

A second pattern to watch for: the power references a specific property or asset, but the transaction relates to a different one. The scope of the authority granted is only as broad as the power's own terms.

If, after reading the grant of authority, it is not clear whether this transaction falls within what was authorised, the right response is to pause — not to proceed and resolve the doubt afterward.

Checking the dates

A power of attorney can carry an express expiry date or remain open-ended. The two cases call for different checks.

If the power has a fixed term, confirm that execution of the deed will take place before that date — not merely that the transaction was initiated within the term. The relevant date is the date of signing, not the date the power was first presented to your office or lodged in the file.

If the power has no expiry date, it is treated as continuing until evidence of revocation appears. That does not eliminate risk — the donor may have revoked the power before the deed was executed, and that revocation may not yet have been recorded anywhere visible — but it is the position from which you work.

What can always be confirmed without ambiguity: that the power was granted before the transaction it is being used for. A power dated after the contract it purports to authorise creates a problem that cannot be corrected at the point of signing.

Linking the donor to the title or contract

The donor's name as it appears in the power must match the name of the party in the contract, the title register, or whatever underlying document the transaction depends on.

This mismatch comes up regularly in conveyancing. The title shows one form of a name and the power shows another: a middle name present in one place and absent in the other, a maiden name versus a married name, a name updated in one register but not yet reflected elsewhere.

Any variation — even a small one — needs a documented explanation before the deed is executed. The explanation may be entirely legitimate, but it needs to be in the file before signing, not assembled afterward if questions arise.

What to record in the file

When a party acts under a power of attorney, the file should show, at minimum:

• Which power was reviewed: who executed it, when, and in what form.
• That the attorney's identity was checked against the power.
• That the grant of authority covers this specific transaction.
• Any discrepancy found and how it was resolved.

If the validity of the representation is ever questioned — by another party, a lender, or in a dispute — what is in the file is what enables you to show the basis on which the representation was accepted. The verification work itself is not visible to anyone unless it is recorded.