Believe it or not but this seems to happen all of the time. Congratulations, you are under contract! Closing will be in 30-40 days. Uh oh, one of us are going overseas and won’t be here for closing. The good thing is you have plenty of time to have a power of attorney signed! The Power of Attorney forms have recently changed and now refer to the power of attorney as my Agent. This is often confused with your Realtor or Real Estate Agent. While you can designate your Real Estate Agent to be your Power of Attorney to sign in your absence, it’s not ideal. What if they then leave the country (trust me, it’s happened).
Be sure to set up someone to sign for you or your spouse via power of attorney before they leave! We are hearing of all kinds of issues where sellers are stuck in foreign countries and are not able to get their documents notarized because of embassy closures. Foreign notaries in countries that participate in the Hague Convention can be used if they can also provide an apostille but be careful, not all countries participate. For example, someone in Hong Kong can use a foreign notary/apostille but China cannot. As always, contact your favorite closing attorney or title professional with any additional questions!
Resources are available for you at Magnolia Title Company, LLC. Owner and Counsel, Laura Martin is also available for any of your Power of Attorney questions at Laura@magnoliatitlecompany.com.