Is your power of attorney legally secure today and beyond 2027?
The reform of the status of judicial administrators, introduced by the Act of 8 November 2023, was originally due to enter into force on 1 September 2025. As the national register of professional administrators is not yet operational, the entry into force of the main provisions has been postponed until 1 September 2027.
This postponement provides an opportunity to reassess existing powers of attorney. From 2027 onwards, not all appointed attorneys will still be legally entitled to act.
What will change?
The reform creates a closer link between powers of attorney and judicial administration. From 1 September 2027 onwards, in principle, only family administrators or persons included in the national register of professional administrators will be able to act as attorneys.
As a result, not every appointed attorney will still be eligible.
Who will no longer be eligible?
The greatest impact will be felt in powers of attorney in which a non-family trusted person has been appointed. In practice, these are often accountants, notaries, lawyers or other professional trusted advisers, but also people from the individual’s private circle who were deliberately chosen because of their independence or specific expertise.
Such attorneys are often appointed because there are no suitable family members, because the children are still too young or lack sufficient experience, to avoid a deadlock between several attorneys, to provide an independent, deciding vote or to act in the event of a conflict of interest, whether or not as an ‘ad hoc’ attorney.
Consider, for example, a family attorney who has to decide on a gift to themselves or on a transaction in which they have a personal financial interest. Today, a neutral third party can be appointed for this purpose. From 2027 onwards, this will no longer be as straightforward.
What is a "family administrator"?
The law uses a broad definition of the term family administrator. In addition to parents, spouses, legal cohabitants and close family members, people who maintain a close relationship with the protected person or provide for their daily care may also fall within this category.
However, this broad definition does not necessarily provide legal certainty. The law does not define precisely what is meant by a "close relationship". The preparatory parliamentary documents merely refer to "close friends", but it remains unclear exactly where the line is drawn. Moreover, family and personal relationships are not static, which means that this assessment will not always be straightforward.
It is precisely this uncertainty that makes a timely review of existing powers of attorney advisable.
When drawing up or reviewing a power of attorney, it is therefore advisable not only to state the identity of the attorney, but also to explain why this person has been appointed and what personal relationship they have with the person granting the power of attorney.
Time for a review
The postponement provides an opportunity to critically reassess existing powers of attorney.
If the appointed attorney does not meet the new legal requirements at the time the power of attorney takes effect, there is a risk that the intended protection cannot be put into practice and that a judicial protection measure will nevertheless have to be imposed.
Conclusion
The postponement until 1 September 2027 provides some necessary breathing space, but it is no reason to wait. On the contrary, now is the ideal time to review existing powers of attorney and determine whether the appointed attorneys will still be legally entitled to act under the new rules.
When drawing up a new power of attorney, it is also advisable to take the future legal requirements into account now. In doing so, it is important to carefully consider the choice of attorney and, where relevant, to explain why a particular trusted person has been appointed as attorney.
