stevesainty

We need to sign, in front of witnesses and a notary, a legal property transfer document raised in Florida USA. As the document is written in English we have decided to used the Notarial Services of the US Consulate in Barcelona.

Barcelona is a 5 1/2 hour drive for us and so we will require an overnight stay.

Now, here is our dilemma.

The document will arrive sometime in the next six months but we don´t know exactly when, it will be last minute. This means that we cannot guarantee that any of our friends will be available to come with us to witness the document. We will only have two weeks to make an appointment with the Consulate, have the document witnessed and notarized and returned to USA.

We will need two impartial witnesses and as the Consulate website expressly states that consulate staff cannot act as witnesses the only thing we can think of is to use a local gestor.

Does anyone know of a reliable gestor in Barcelona who can rustle up a couple of witnesses at short notice, or can anyone come up with an alternative plan?

Pulaski

Give a lawyer (or someone else) in the US a power of attorney to sign the document. We sold our house in London while we were in the US, without ever having to sign the sale/trasfer documentation.

Keith S

MikeJ

As Spanish is widely used in the States it shouldn't be a problem to get the document translated, notarised and the epistole in the USA which should be acceptable in Spain.

Pulaski

The property is in the US, the conveyance is the US, the lawyer is in the US, the POA would be under US law, and the OP is English-speaking. Why would anything be in Spanish?

stevesainty

Thank you all so far for your interest. However feasible POA would be it is not a route we want to go down nor is it an option put forward by the time share company in Florida and so is a non starter.

We will be going to use the notarial services of the US Consulate in Barcelona when we receive the document by email.

Our problem still remains as to how to acquire two witnesses.

johnnyone

You have probably checked this out but just in case, does the US consular agency in Valencia offer a notary service?

Moses2013

It's the easiest option though. You just go to a Notary Public:



A Notary Public is empowered by law and by custom and usage of notaries through the ages to

• Administer Oaths
• Attest Signatures
• Authenticate Documents
• Give Notarial Acts
• Take Affidavits
• Take Affirmations and Declarations
• Receive and Make Protests under Mercantile Law, and issue notarial certificates in respect of documents and persons.
• Draw up Powers of Attorney and other legal documents customarily prepared by Notaries Public

The acts of Notaries Public have worldwide recognition.

MikeJ

Sorry, just trying to be helpful - I just thought that as the question was on the Spain site it might have something to do with Spain

stevesainty

It does, we live in Spain.

Spanish notaries cannot/will not notarise docements written in any language but Spanish. USA obsessed with having everything notarised. There are no notary publics in Spain other than those attached to the US Embassies/Consulates.

Our dilemma is that we need two witnesses. We could take a couple of our friends but as we do not know when the document will arrive we cannot guarantee that they would be available to come with us to Barcelona or Valencia (if they have notarial services, still awaiting a reply). Therefore we need a local gestor who can provide a couple of witnesses.

Rosemary

If it was Valencia I could be one of the witnesses for you but doubt whether I could bring anyone with me.

Rosemary

stevesainty

Thank you Rosemary, we will bear you in mind.

Steve & Jill x

Pulaski

I respect your decision, however .... Another party with whom you are negotiating does not get to determine whether you are able to appoint a POA to act for you, nor can they veto your decision to do so.

There are good reasons why someone (in this case the TS company) will not recommend/suggest a POA as a solution to your problem (being overseas), but they are powerless to stop you/someone using a POA to appoint someone to act on your/their behalf.

snikpoh

I'm not sure this is true.

Aren't they just notarising your signature and notarising that the document is a true copy of ... It's got NOTHING to do with the subject matter or what language it's in.


In the past I've heard that witnesses have simply been 'dragged off the street' with the promise of a few euors!

stevesainty

The US Consulate in Valencia does not advertise notarial services on the website so I emailed them to ask whether or not they had this service.

We got a very friendly phone call from them a couple of days later.

The good news is that they do indeed have a notarial service with only a couple of working days lead time for appointments.

This means that we can drive there and back in a day which means that it is a lot easier to arrange to take a couple of neighbours/friends, especially if we stump up for lunch.

Thank you all for your help especially johnnyone for suggesting the Valencian consulate.