Power of Attorney in Bulgaria

The Bulgarian power of attorney is a legally enforceable document that grants a party, called an agent or attorney-in-fact, the right to represent another party – a donor or principal. Such a paper is often used for various purposes by natural persons and companies in Bulgaria.

Below, our Bulgarian lawyers present the situations in which powers of attorney can be used and the elements that grant these documents legality.

Parties in a power of attorney in Bulgaria

As mentioned earlier, there needs to be 2 parties participating in the creation of a power of attorney:

• the donor, who can be a natural person or a company who/which disposes the drafting of the document and the matter(s) in which he/she/it will be represented;
• the agent, who can be a natural person, including one of our lawyers in Bulgaria, or a specialized agent who will carry out to fruition the dispositions of the donor.

When the principal is a natural person, he or she must be at least 18 years old and must have full mental capacity at the time the power of attorney is granted. In the case of companies, such documents are usually issued by one of the executives or directors.

No matter the situation you may need representation in, you can rely on our law firm in Bulgaria for both drafting and completing the requirements of a power of attorney.

Types of powers of attorney in Bulgaria

There are several types of powers of attorney that can be executed in Bulgaria, as follows:

• the general one;
• the specific/limited.

Since the GDPR became applicable in May 2018 (with Bulgarian implementing amendments in 2019), such documents must be carefully drafted in order to respect the law.

A general power of attorney has the following characteristics:

• It is usually granted for representation in multiple situations;
• It ends if the donor is placed under judicial disability (interdiction), as Bulgarian law has no lasting power of attorney;
• It also ends on the death of the principal (estate matters are handled by the heirs or by an executor named in a will);
• It has a long-term effect.

In the case of the specific power of attorney:

• It is issued for one or several tasks;
• Its duration is limited, so that after completion of the case, it is no longer valid.

Nowadays, most Bulgarian powers of attorney are specific. We can help you create any of the 2 types of documents after explaining to you how each of them works.

Matters in which powers of attorney are used in Bulgaria

Here are some of the cases in which a power of attorney is issued in Bulgaria:

• inheritance, as stated above, as heirs often grant powers of attorney to settle the estate, while testators name an executor in the will to carry out their last wishes (the executor is usually the notary, a lawyer, or a family member);
• business registration, as many of the steps related to opening a company in Bulgaria can be completed through a proxy;
• real estate acquisition or sale;
• trademark registration or obtaining other intellectual property rights;
• immigration to Bulgaria.

In the latter case, our lawyers can assist in filing for a residence permit or citizenship in Bulgaria by drafting and filing the documents with the immigration authorities.

How many lawyers are registered in Bulgaria?

The power of attorney can be drafted by a lawyer, and it can be used for many actions in Bulgaria. According to the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe, at the level of 2021, there were 13,994 lawyers registered with the Bulgarian Bar Association. Furthermore, the same Council provides the following data:

• in 2021, 7,367 of the total number of lawyers were women;
• in 2023, some of them were also registered in other EU member states, among which 5 in Spain and 3 in Austria.

If you need support in drafting a power of attorney, please contact our lawyers in Bulgaria.