Plná moc

Under Czech law

Representation by agreement is regulated in § 441–§ 449 of the Civil Code (Act No. 89/2012 Sb.). The plná moc is the outward proof of the internal mandate: it can be special (one act — selling one flat) or general (generální, covering all usual affairs). Section 441 odst. 2 requires the power of attorney to be granted in the same form the law requires for the act itself — so where a transaction needs a notarial deed (founding an s.r.o., for instance), the power of attorney needs certified form as well; in practice, offices and the cadastre routinely require an officially certified signature (úředně ověřený podpis).

A power of attorney can be revoked at any time (§ 442); revocation is effective towards third parties once they learn of it. For lasting incapacity planning, the Civil Code offers the stronger předběžné prohlášení and zastoupení členem domácnosti (§ 38 a násl.).

A practical example

An expat buying a Prague apartment cannot attend the closing. She grants her lawyer a special power of attorney with a certified signature covering the purchase contract and the cadastre application. The transaction completes without her flying in; the cadastre accepts the filing because the signature on the power of attorney is certified.

When you need a lawyer

For anything beyond trivial errands: a badly scoped general power of attorney is an invitation to abuse, and a too-narrow special one gets rejected at the counter. Lawyers also act as attorneys-in-fact themselves — often the simplest way to handle Czech formalities from abroad.