U.S. power of attorney from Ireland when an agent is selling your property

A power of attorney lets someone in the United States act for you on a property sale while you stay in Ireland, and it can be signed and notarized from Dublin, Cork or Galway without flying back. What matters most is getting the wording and the signing method approved by the title company or closing attorney before you sign anything.

Why a seller in Ireland needs this

A returned emigrant who still owns a house in Boston or New York, an heir in Kerry or Mayo selling a relative's U.S. property as part of settling an estate, or someone managing a rental through a local agent while living in Ireland: in each case, a title company, a real estate attorney or a closing agent in the United States needs written, notarized authority before the sale can close without the owner physically present.

When more than one heir is involved, each person who holds an interest in the property usually needs to sign their own power of attorney, even if one sibling in Dublin is coordinating the paperwork for everyone else. The title company will typically say so directly once the file is opened.

What the title company or attorney typically asks for

• A specific, not general, power of attorney. Most closings want authority limited to the sale of a named property, with the attorney-in-fact's powers spelled out, rather than a broad general power of attorney covering unrelated matters.
• The exact legal description of the property. The address alone is usually not enough; the document typically needs the legal description used in the deed or the county records.
• A named attorney-in-fact. The person acting for you at the closing, often a relative, an agent or the closing attorney themselves, needs to be named specifically.
• An original, notarized signature. Most title companies want the signed original before closing, not a scanned copy, and some county recorders have their own formatting rules.

Ask the title company or the closing attorney for their exact wording requirements before drafting anything, since each closing can differ. TRSG does not draft the power of attorney itself; that is a question for the attorney handling the sale.

Signing and notarizing it from Ireland

Once the wording is approved, the signing itself can usually happen one of two ways. A remote online notarization session with a U.S. notary lets you sign from home in Ireland by video, provided the receiving county or title company accepts a remotely notarized power of attorney. If the recipient insists on an in-person U.S. notarization or a specific local step, ask directly what that involves, since requirements vary by county and by title company. Confirm which route the recipient accepts before booking a session.

Getting the signed original to the U.S. side

Many closings still require the original signed and notarized document, not a PDF, so plan the mailing before the closing date rather than after. A tracked international courier, such as DHL Express or FedEx, with the tracking number shared with the title company in advance, avoids the power of attorney arriving after the closing is already scheduled to happen. Our guide on apostille for a power of attorney covers the reverse situation, when a U.S. document needs to work abroad instead.

If the closing attorney also asks for an apostille

Some title companies or county recorders, particularly when the signer lives outside the United States, ask that the notarized power of attorney also carry a New Jersey apostille before it is accepted. Whether that extra step applies depends entirely on the recipient's own rules, so confirm it the same way as the notarization method: ask the title company directly rather than assuming either way.

Where this goes wrong for a property sale

• A general power of attorney is signed when the title company specifically wanted one limited to the property sale.
• The legal description of the property is missing or copied incorrectly from an old document.
• The original is mailed after the closing date is already set, instead of before it.
• Nobody confirmed with the title company whether a remote online notarization would be accepted before the session was booked.

How TR Signing Group handles it

TR Signing Group is a U.S. company based in Bayonne, New Jersey, and handles this from a single signature to a full international file. Once the title company or attorney confirms their requirements, Tanim Raquib, a commissioned New Jersey notary public, schedules a session that fits a Dublin, Cork or Galway evening through the power of attorney notarization service and the international signer service, and the international mailing service gets the signed original to the title company with tracking. Request a quote or book a free 15-minute call through the quote page to go over the closing timeline.