Scope and Revocation: Keeping Control of a Power of Attorney From Abroad

An owner living outside the Kingdom has to delegate something. The protection is not in trusting the right person but in bounding what they can do and knowing how it ends.

A power of attorney is a grant of authority, and the person holding it can bind you within its scope whether or not you would have agreed. Owners abroad tend to focus on who they appoint and almost never on what the instrument permits or how it stops. This sets out how to define the scope, how to monitor what is done under it, and how to end it cleanly, which is the step most owners never plan at all.

Before stage one

Before granting anything, write down the specific transactions you need someone to carry out in the next twelve months. If that list cannot be written, you are not ready to grant authority, because an instrument drafted without a defined purpose will be drafted broadly. The breadth is not a convenience; it is the exposure.

• List the specific acts you need performed, each as a separate line.
• Identify which of those genuinely require authority rather than simply assistance.
• Decide the maximum value of any transaction the holder may enter into.
• Establish how you will know what has been done under the instrument.
• Decide in advance when and how the authority will end.

Stage 1: Separate authority from assistance

Many tasks an owner delegates do not need formal authority at all. Inspecting the property, obtaining quotes, receiving correspondence, meeting a contractor and reporting are all assistance. Authority is only required where someone must sign, commit or transact on your behalf. Granting authority for tasks that need none is the most common unnecessary exposure.

• Deliverable: Two lists: tasks requiring authority and tasks requiring only instructions.
• Owner: You, with your adviser testing each item.
• Approval gate: Nothing on the authority list could be handled by instruction alone.

Stage 2: Define the scope narrowly and specifically

An instrument should name the property, the acts permitted and any limits. Authority to deal with my property is not a scope; authority to let a named unit on terms within a defined range, for a defined period, is. Narrow scopes take slightly longer to draft and remove most of the ways this goes wrong.

• Deliverable: A drafted scope naming the property, the permitted acts and the limits on each.
• Owner: A licensed Saudi adviser drafting, with you approving every line.
• Approval gate: You can read the scope and state exactly what the holder may and may not do.

Stage 3: Decide what is expressly excluded

Even a narrow instrument benefits from express exclusions, particularly around selling, charging the property, granting rights over it and appointing substitutes. The power to appoint a substitute deserves particular attention, because it allows your chosen holder to pass the authority to someone you have never met.

• Deliverable: A list of exclusions, with any power to appoint a substitute addressed expressly.
• Owner: Your adviser, with your instructions on each exclusion.
• Approval gate: The instrument says what the holder cannot do, not only what they can.

Stage 4: Set the duration and the trigger for ending it

Authority should end on a defined date or on completion of the defined task. An instrument with no end is one you will have to remember to revoke, and owners forget. Pair a defined end with a diary reminder so expiry is confirmed rather than assumed.

• Deliverable: A defined expiry or completion trigger, with a diary entry to confirm it has taken effect.
• Owner: You, keeping the reminder yourself rather than relying on an adviser.
• Approval gate: An end point exists and you have recorded when to check it.

Stage 5: Execute it properly for cross border use

An instrument granted outside the Kingdom usually needs steps to be usable inside it, which can involve certification, legalisation and translation depending on where you are. These steps have their own sequence and take time, so starting them late is what delays transactions rather than the drafting itself.

• Deliverable: An executed instrument in a form usable for the intended purpose.
• Owner: Your adviser, telling you the required steps before you book anything.
• Approval gate: Your adviser confirms the instrument is in usable form, in writing.

Stage 6: Monitor what is done under it

Authority without reporting is authority you have no visibility of. Require the holder to report each exercise of the authority within a defined time, and verify independently where it matters, for instance by checking the registry entry or the leasing platform record rather than accepting a confirmation message.

• Deliverable: A reporting obligation with a defined period, plus independent verification on key items.
• Owner: You, with your adviser verifying where verification is possible.
• Approval gate: Every exercise of the authority is reported and the significant ones are independently checked.

Stage 7: Revoke properly and confirm it took effect

Revocation is not finished when you decide to revoke. It is finished when it has been effected through the proper route, the holder has been notified, and anyone who might rely on the instrument knows. Owners frequently tell the holder and stop there, leaving an instrument that third parties may still act on.

• Deliverable: A completed revocation, evidence of notification, and confirmation that it has taken effect.
• Owner: Your adviser, with written confirmation back to you.
• Approval gate: You hold evidence of revocation, not a message saying it was handled.

Handovers between stages

The handover that creates problems is between one piece of work and the next. An instrument granted for a purchase is still live when the purchase completes, and the holder uses it for the letting because it is convenient. Close each instrument when its purpose ends and grant a new one for the next task, even where the same person is involved. The inconvenience is the point.

How you know it is finished

The arrangement is working when the scope matches a written list of tasks, every exercise is reported, and each instrument has an end you have confirmed. Requirements for granting, using and revoking authority, particularly across borders, are updated from time to time, so confirm the current process with a licensed Saudi adviser at the point you grant or revoke rather than repeating what worked previously.

Domira works on the ownership side of a Saudi property for owners based abroad: verifying title and boundaries, assessing the building, handling registration and handover, and managing the asset afterwards. For legal and tax questions, work with a licensed adviser; Domira will tell you plainly what the property itself supports.