Picture the scene. Mario Vargas Llosa, Nobel Prize winner for Literature, is at his home in Lima with a mundane matter to deal with.

He has to sell a small flat in Mantua, bought on impulse one late afternoon in 2001 during the Literature Festival, when, enchanted by the Po Valley sunset and a dinner of pumpkin tortelli, he decided a pied-à-terre in Lombardy would be his perfect tribute to Italian culture.

Now, however, it is time to sell. But how can he avoid having to board a long-haul flight to appear in suit and tie before an Italian notary?

The alternative is to sign a power of attorney and appoint a third party to follow the entire process of the sale through to completion.

Vargas Llosa takes pen and paper…

Naturally, as an esteemed author, he cannot just write:

‘I, Mario Vargas Llosa, appoint Mr X as my attorney for the sale of the property located in… etc.’

No. That would be too simple. And decidedly lacking in literary merit.

The style of the power of attorney would take the form of a first-person narrative:

“When I bought that little flat on the third floor, overlooking the street where every morning you can hear the baker’s cart and the languid greeting of the tobacconist, I little imagined that one day I would have to part with it…”

At this point, an Italian notary would be rolling his eyes and asking, ‘But where is the substance of this deed?

A clear text is needed, correctly translated, and formally acceptable under Italian law.

That is why we recommend a simple, functional and fool proof procedure, broken down into four steps:

1. Choose your special attorney, i.e. someone you trust, such as Zavalita or simply an acquaintance residing in Italy. The attorney should be granted the broadest and most suitable powers needed to carry out all the procedures necessary to finalise the sale of the house. The list is long: with general representation, the attorney can sign any deed or document relating to the sale at the offices of notaries and public officials, such as agreeing the sale price, the payment terms, signing the preliminary contract ( ) or the deed of sale, paying taxes and fees, and submitting declarations to the Revenue Agency.

2. Drafting of the text abroad

The Peruvian notary drafts the power of attorney in accordance with the wishes of Vargas Llosa (or the Peruvian citizen concerned), including all the essential legal elements: details of the parties, description of the property, the powers conferred, and their validity.

You have to start out from a text prepared by the Italian notary, which will be translated into Spanish and sent to Peru, which can be by email. It will then be up to the Peruvian notary to integrate the specific notarial formulae required by local legislation and draw up the official deed.

The document thus drafted, in Spanish, must be accompanied by an Apostille, issued by the Peruvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and then sent in original form to Italy.

3. Translation in Italy

The text arrives at Globostudio, which takes care of the certified translation of the document (including the Apostille), scrupulously respecting Italian legal terminology.

4. Execution of the deed of sale in Italy

The Italian notary receives the certified translation of the power of attorney and so now the attorney appointed by Vargas can perform all acts in the name and on behalf of the principal, “all with the promise of ratification and validity, and without no possible objection that he is acting ultra vires (beyond the scope of his powers)”.

The result?

The house in Mantua can be sold as normal.

The local tobacconist, unaware that he has become a secondary character in the memoirs of a Nobel laureate, will continue to sell Gitanes and lighters.

Vargas Llosa will be able to return to telling his stories in the coffee houses of Lima and Paris, without getting lost in the tangle of cross-border bureaucracy.

Our advice:

Even if you are not a Nobel laureate, if you need to draw up a power of attorney from abroad to Italy or vice versa, it is best to follow a clear, secure and professional method.

Globostudio takes care of every stage of the consultation and translation, simple, sworn or certified, of notarial deeds, contracts and legal documentation.

Leave the poignant descriptions to Vargas Llosa. We’ll take care of the formalities.