Powers of Attorney
Powers of Attorney Act 1996
PART III
Powers of Attorney Generally
Creation of power.
15.—(1) Where an instrument creating a power of attorney is signed by direction of the donor it shall be signed in the presence of the donor and of another person who shall attest the instrument as witness.
(2) A power of attorney is not required to be made under seal.
(3) This section is without prejudice to any requirement in or under any other enactment as to the witnessing of powers of attorney or as to the execution of instruments by bodies corporate.
Effect of general power in specified form.
16.—(1) A general power of attorney in the form set out in the Third Schedule , or in a form to the like effect expressed to be made under this Act, shall operate to confer on the donee or donees of the power acting in accordance with its terms authority to do on behalf of the donor anything which the donor can lawfully do by attorney.
(2) This section does not apply to functions which the donor has as a trustee or personal representative or as a tenant for life within the meaning of the Settled Land Act, 1882, or as a trustee or other person exercising the powers of a tenant for life under section 60 of that Act.
Execution of instruments, etc. by donee of power.
17.—(1) The donee of a power of attorney may—
(a) execute any instrument with his or her own signature and, where sealing is required, with his or her own seal, and
(b) do any other thing in his or her own name,
by the authority of the donor of the power; and any instrument executed or thing done in that manner shall be as effective as if executed or done by the donee with the signature and seal, or, as the case may be, in the name, of the donor of the power.
(2) A person who is authorised under a power of attorney to convey any estate or interest in property in the name or on behalf of a corporation sole or aggregate may either execute the conveyance as provided in subsection (1) or, as donee of the power, execute the conveyance by signing his or her name as acting in the name or on behalf of the corporation in the presence of at least one witness and, in the case of a deed, by affixing his or her own seal, and such execution takes effect and is valid in like manner as if the corporation had executed the conveyance.
(3) Where a corporation aggregate is authorised under a power of attorney to convey any interest in property in the name or on behalf of any other person (including another body corporate), a person appointed for that purpose by the corporation may execute the deed or other instrument in the name of such other person; and where an instrument appears to be executed by a person so appointed then in favour of a purchaser the instrument is deemed to have been executed by that person, unless the contrary is shown.
(4) In this section “purchaser” has the meaning given to it by section 18 (6).
(5) This section applies whenever the power of attorney was created.
Protection of donee and other persons where power revoked.
18.—(1) A donee of a power of attorney who acts in pursuance of the power at a time when it has been revoked shall not, by reason of the revocation, incur any liability (either to the donor or to any other person) if at that time the donee did not know that the power had been revoked.
(2) Where a power of attorney has been revoked and a person, without knowledge of the revocation, deals with the donee of the power, the transaction between them shall, in favour of that person, be as valid as if the power had then been in force.
(3) Where the power is expressed in the instrument creating it to be irrevocable and to be given by way of security then, unless the person dealing with the donee knows that it was not in fact given by way of security, that person shall be entitled to assume that the power is incapable of revocation except by the donor acting with the consent of the donee and shall accordingly be treated for the purposes of subsection (2) as having knowledge of the revocation only if that person knows that it has been revoked in that manner.
(4) Where the interest of a purchaser depends on whether a transaction between the donee of a power of attorney and another person was valid by virtue of subsection (2), it shall be presumed in favour of the purchaser unless the contrary is shown that that person did not at the material time know of the revocation of the power if—
(a) the transaction between that person and the donee was completed within twelve months of the date on which the power came into operation, or
(b) that person makes a statutory declaration, before or within three months after the completion of the purchase, that that person did not at the material time know of the revocation of the power.
(5) Without prejudice to subsection (3), for the purposes of this section knowledge of the revocation of a power of attorney includes knowledge of the occurrence of any event (such as the death of the donor) which has the effect of revoking the power.
(6) In this section “purchaser” means a purchaser in good faith for valuable consideration and includes a lessee, mortgagee or other person who, for valuable consideration, acquires an interest in any property; and includes also an intending purchaser.
(7) This section applies to a power of attorney whenever created but only to acts and transactions after the commencement of this section.
Protection of transferee under stock exchange transaction.
19.—(1) Without prejudice to section 18 , where—
(a) the donee of a power of attorney executes, as transferor, an instrument transferring registered securities, and
(b) the instrument is executed for the purposes of a stock exchange transaction,
it shall be presumed in favour of the transferee unless the contrary is shown that the power had not been revoked at the date of the instrument if a statutory declaration to that effect is made by the donee of the power on or within three months after that date.
(2) In this section “registered securities” and “stock exchange transaction” have the same meanings as in the Stock Transfer Act, 1963 .
Power given as security.
20.—(1) Where a power of attorney is expressed to be irrevocable and is given to secure—
(a) a proprietary interest of the donee of the power, or
(b) the performance of an obligation owed to the donee,
then, so long as the donee has that interest or the obligation remains undischarged, the power shall not be revoked—
(i) by the donor without the consent of the donee, or
(ii) by the death, incapacity or bankruptcy of the donor or, if the donor is a body corporate, by its winding-up or dissolution.
(2) A power of attorney given to secure a proprietary interest may be given, and shall be deemed to have been capable always of being given, to the person entitled to the interest and persons deriving title under that person to that interest, and those persons shall be duly constituted donees of the power for all purposes of the power but without prejudice to any right to appoint substitutes given by the power.
(3) This section applies to powers of attorney whenever created.
Proof of instrument creating power.
21.—(1) A power of attorney may be proved by production of the original instrument or of a copy which—
(a) is certified by the donor of the power or by a solicitor or member firm (within the meaning of the Stock Exchange Act, 1995 ), or in such other manner as the court approves, to be a true copy of the original, or
(b) where the instrument has been deposited in the Central Office of the High Court pursuant to section 22 is attested in accordance with that section.
(2) It is immaterial for the purposes of subsection (1) how many removes there are between the copy and the original or by what means (which may include facsimile transmission) the copy produced or any intermediate copy was made.
(3) This section is without prejudice to any other method of proof authorised by law.
Deposit of original instruments in Central Office.
22.—(1) An instrument creating a power of attorney, its execution being verified by affidavit, statutory declaration or other sufficient evidence, may, with the affidavit or declaration, if any, be deposited in the Central Office of the High Court.
(2) A separate file of instruments so deposited shall be kept and any person may, free of charge during normal office hours, search that file and inspect any instrument so deposited, and an attested copy thereof shall be delivered to that person on request.
(3) A copy of an instrument so deposited may be presented at the Central Office, and may be stamped or marked as an attested copy, and when so stamped or marked shall become and be an attested copy.
(4) An attested copy of an instrument so deposited shall without further proof be sufficient evidence of the contents of the instrument and of the deposit thereof in the Central Office.
(5) Subsections (2)to (4)apply to instruments deposited in the Central Office before the commencement of this section.
(6) This section applies to instruments creating powers of attorney whenever executed.
Furnishing to purchaser of power relating to land.
23.—A purchaser of any estate or interest in land is entitled to have any instrument creating a power of attorney which affects title thereto, or a certified copy or attested copy thereof, furnished by the vendor to the purchaser free of expense.
Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act 2009
Formalities for deeds.
64.— (1) Any rule of law which requires—
(a) a seal for the valid execution of a deed by an individual, or
(b) authority to deliver a deed to be given by deed,
is abolished.
(2) An instrument executed after the commencement of this Chapter is a deed if it is—
(a) described at its head by words such as “Assignment”, “Conveyance”, “Charge”, “Deed”, “Indenture”, “Lease”, “Mortgage”, “Surrender” or other heading appropriate to the deed in question, or it is otherwise made clear on its face that it is intended by the person making it, or the parties to it, to be a deed, by expressing it to be executed or signed as a deed,
(b) executed in the following manner:
(i) if made by an individual—
(I) it is signed by the individual in the presence of a witness who attests the signature, or
(II) it is signed by a person at the individual’s direction given in the presence of a witness who attests the signature, or
(III) the individual’s signature is acknowledged by him or her in the presence of a witness who attests the signature;
(ii) if made by a company registered in the State, it is executed under the seal of the company in accordance with its Articles of Association;
(iii) if made by a body corporate registered in the State other than a company, it is executed in accordance with the legal requirements governing execution of deeds by such a body corporate;
(iv) if made by a foreign body corporate, it is executed in accordance with the legal requirements governing execution of the instrument in question by such a body corporate in the jurisdiction where it is incorporated,
and
(c) delivered as a deed by the person executing it or by a person authorised to do so on that person’s behalf.
(3) Any deed executed under this section has effect as if it were a document executed under seal.
(4) A deed, whenever created, has the effect of an indenture although not indented or expressed to be an indenture.
Escrows by corporate bodies.
65.— (1) Any rule of law to the effect that the affixing of a corporate seal to an instrument effects delivery by that body corporate is abolished.
(2) An instrument executed by a body corporate in accordance with section 64 (2)(b) is capable of operating as an escrow in the same circumstances and with the same consequences as an instrument executed by an individual.