More and more deals are signed with one of the owners absent. The seller lives in Germany, the buyer works in London, the heir is in Canada. Bulgarian law allows this through an attorney-in-fact who signs the notarial deed on your behalf. But a property power of attorney is a document where mistakes are expensive: the wrong form stops the deal, and overly broad wording creates risk.
Here is the practical sequence, from form to payment.
The rule is in Article 37 of the Obligations and Contracts Act (ЗЗД): authority to conclude a contract that requires a special form must be given in the same form. A property sale requires a notarial deed, so the power of attorney must be in writing, with notarial certification of both the signature and the content, carried out at the same time.
This is more than an ordinary signature certification. In practice it means:
A power of attorney with only the signature certified is not enough to buy or sell property, and the notary handling the deal will refuse it.
1. At a Bulgarian consulate. Consular officers at Bulgarian embassies and consulates perform notarial certifications under the same rules as a notary in Bulgaria. For a property power of attorney both signature and content are certified. You must attend in person with a valid Bulgarian identity document; foreign passports and driving licences are not accepted. Consular staff generally do not draft the text, so you bring it ready, in Bulgarian, in two copies. Declarations are often attached (for example under the Tax and Social Insurance Procedure Code and on marital status), which the notary in Bulgaria will ask for. Many missions work by appointment only.
2. Before a local notary, plus apostille and translation. If the principal is a foreign national, or the nearest consulate is far away, the power of attorney can be certified by a notary in the country where they are. Then:
Bulgarian case law accepts a power of attorney made abroad in the local form. In practice, though, foreign notaries do not always certify "content" the way Bulgarian law describes it. Our advice: use a bilingual text (Bulgarian and the other language) and agree it in advance with the Bulgarian notary who will handle the deal. That way the document does not have to travel back and forth.
The more specific, the safer for you and for the other side.
| Element | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Full details of principal and attorney | Identification before the notary |
| The specific property: address, cadastral identifier, title deed | It cannot be used for another property |
| The specific act: sale or purchase | No general "disposal of all properties" |
| Price (or minimum price for a sale) and payment method | Limits misuse |
| Authority to sign the preliminary contract and declarations and to collect documents | Otherwise the attorney gets stuck halfway |
| Bank account authority, only if needed | On a sale, the money should go to your own account |
| Expiry date | A clear end to the authority |
Self-dealing. Under Article 38 of the Act, an attorney may not contract on your behalf with themselves, or with another person they also represent, unless you have expressly consented. If your spouse signs for both of you as buyers, that is usually not an issue. But if the attorney is buying your property for themselves, or also acts for the seller, the consent must be written into the power of attorney. Otherwise the contract does not bind you.
The notary handling the deal checks the form, date and scope, and that the attorney is the person named. It is good practice for them to contact the notary who certified the power of attorney to confirm the certification is genuine.
Consular powers of attorney can be verified by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with a copy of the document and a standard application, in person at the reception in Sofia, by email or by post. The fee is €5.11 and the reply comes within 7 calendar days, so request the check a week before the deal.
Has it been revoked? A principal may revoke the authority at any time. Under Article 41 of the Act, however, revocation cannot be raised against third parties acting in good faith unless it is subject to registration and has been registered. As of October 2026 there is no publicly accessible register where a buyer can check for themselves whether a power of attorney has been revoked. So if you revoke one, notify the attorney, the certifying notary and anyone they might deal with in writing. If you are on the other side of the table, a recent power of attorney and direct contact with the principal (for instance a video call before signing) both help.
The anti-fraud package published for consultation in August 2026 targets exactly these broad powers of attorney; we covered it in our article on the proposed changes.
If you are buying as a foreign national, see also what you can own and which documents you need.
A remote transaction is entirely lawful and increasingly common. It needs the correct form under Article 37, precise wording, a verified power of attorney and payment through a bank. The safest approach is to prepare the power of attorney with the notary and with us before you have it certified abroad.
If you plan to buy or sell while you are outside Bulgaria, call us or visit our office. We will prepare the text and coordinate the deal with the notary.
This is general information, verified October 2026. It is not legal advice for a specific case.
