Solicitor having Power of Attorney? Is this safe?

[Christmaswhinge]

DM and her partner are in their sixties and live overseas. I have Power of Attorney for my DM in the UK but not overseas. They are considering giving POA to their solicitor in the country they live in. Doesn't this mean he could actually sell their property or do anything else within their knowledge? I'm just worried that if he's not a good guy he could take advantage. I don't know if I can have POA in another country. Does anyone know anything about this? Am I worrying unnecessarily? My DM is too trusting and tells me he's a lovely guy and very handsome, like that somehow makes it ok!

If they are regulated by their professional body there's likely to be some sort of insurance cover. The alternative would be find a trusted person in that country, or use someone abroad which is far from ideal.

Is it the thought of a solicitor having a POA that's the problem, or is it the fact he's foreign that you object to? I'm struggling to rationalise your fears.

Where is "abroad?"

They're in Spain. It's nothing to do with the solicitor being foreign it's that I don't want anyone other than family having total control over everything. He seems to be a reputable solicitor but if he's not he can make some awful decisions that we can't stop.

It's pretty common practice for overseas owners of Spanish property to give the abogado power of attorney, for a transaction. I think stuff has to be signed in situ, in Spain. I assume this isn't like a lasting power of attorney.

I have power of attorney for my DM in Spain, it was set up easily by her solicitor.

The big difference between that and a UK POA is that the Spanish one was effective immediately with no requirement to show loss of capacity. The Spanish don't seem to do those kind of POAs.