Arranging Power of Attorney for signing of land documents in Philippines

Apologies for the clunky thread title.

My wife bought a small plot of beach land (300m2) in Caridad, Leyte about 23 years ago for P250,000. She has been asked whether she would be willing to sell, but there is some problem with land tax or somesuch, nothing major, but something which ultimately would require her signature to sort out.

Obviously being in the UK with no imminent plans for a Philippine trip in the near future she will be in no position to personally sign any pertinent documents. Her niece has advised that she could sort things out but would require a 'special power of attorney'.

My retort was to ask the niece to courier the requisite papers to us via DHL, we could sign and then courier them back. I've done this before for around £40. The potential land sale is not for a significant chunk of cash so I am loathe to cough up a fortune paying legal fees etc, I'd rather just keep the land.

However, on the off chance that somebody on this forum has undertaken a 'similar transaction', would anyone have any advice on the feasibility of organising 'special powers of attorney' between family members in UK/Phils. I've tried googling but find I tend to glaze over a bit when trying to understand legalese jargon.

Cheers for any advice, Simon

Special power of attorney form is on embassey website

https://londonpe.dfa.gov.ph/consular-matters/forms

Think need to visit embassy to sign and for them to counter sign.

Cheers for that. Unfortunately I'm up in the Highlands so if it requires a trip to London I'll probably tell the wife not to bother with the land sale!! Perhaps I can get it done in Edinburgh, I think they had some legal Philippine representation there previously.

Anyhow, thanks for the swift reply.

Edit to add: perhaps I could just print out that Phil Embassy document and have it 'notarised' by a local solicitor, that should suffice and be relatively cheap.

Don't tell the locals but I'm not actually a Scot!! I hail from Erith, Kent (near Dartford). Spent a few years in Dorset, and then most of my adult life at sea. I based myself in the Highlands over 20 years ago when the wife and daughter obtained their visas. I like the mountains and the wife likes the weather (!?). Most people think I'm Australian - I tend to let them continue with their impressions in order to not upset them!!
Thanks for the Consular advice, I'll check it out should we go down the SPA route, cheers.

Anything to do with land don't trust anyone and especially not family - sad but true. Hang on to it and wait till you can come over and sort it out yourself.

Land prices have gone bonkers here in the last 10 years. Even where I live in Leyte, 300 sqm probably set you back over a 1 million php now.

As I understand it: it's common practice to put the "official sale" through for a smaller amount to reduce the amount of tax paid... You may or may not be told what the real sale price is if you're using an agent or a family member to handle it.

I must admit my wife hasn't really explained it too well. I believe the tax has been paid no problem but it's something to with deed of sale / name on land title. I don't think it's anything major, she anticipates about £200 to sort out so will have to wait and see. Although I wouldn't like to see her lose the land over some clerical omission 20 years or so ago, if she does then it's not the end of the World. I believe a large chunk of the plot was eaten by the sea when that big typhoon blew through a couple of years ago. Will wait and see, things happen quite slowly from experience!

Thanks, I think I understand it.

In our case, my wife's family have always paid the "land" tax (circa P300) on the "property" where they/we have lived... but a few years ago - may have been after I put the wall up around our lot at the start of the pandemic... LGU were out surveying (looking for new sources of income presumably) and we were noticed and included - We didn't have to pay any back tax but we've been paying an annual tax (circa P1500 - P2000 pa) on our individual "property".... since we were included.

Sounds like when the op's wife purchased the land they avoided triggering tax collection on the sale by not registering the change of title... The land "probably" belongs to his wife, by way of an agreement of sale, but the seller knew there would be back tax to pay if they registered the title in his wife's name...

So now they are trying to sell the land on, the chickens have come home to roost, either the new buyer accepts the position (as most people here do) and buy's it, without registering the title again with another side agreement of sale, or they have to sort it out and decide who pays what...

The problem is with this arrangement, and what most people don't know, is it's open to abuse: often the Barangay captain in conjunction with a family member, knows what's going on and starts paying the property tax himself ... knowing that after 10 years (maybe less ?) he is then entitled, as the tax payer, to register the property in his own name and claim good title to it - after which it's very difficult to undo things.

I sent a quick e-mail to the Philippine Consulate in Edinburgh enquiring as to whether they could arrange Special Power of Attorney (SPA). I received the swift reply:

Please be advised that the former Consulate at Bankhead Avenue, Edinburgh has closed.
Your email will not be read and is not being forwarded.
Please contact the London Embassy for assistance with any Consular matter or general enquiry.
London Website address is www.londonpe.dfa.gov.ph

So there we go!

I think I now understand what the wife is wanting to do. She purchased a plot of land in the year 2000 and has a deed of sale. However, the land title was not transferred to her name. The 'land' taxes are fully paid upto date, both prior to my wifes purchase and subsequently upto now - apparently they are paid annually in the previous owners name so she assures. Anyhow, her niece has been trying to assist in transferring the title to my wife's name but it requires a SPA unfortunately. I've downloaded the form which forum member Br28016 kindly linked above. Does this really require a trip to the London Embassy, or can I just get it notarized locally..........I'm up in Inverness for frick sake!!!! I don't handle Philippine bureacracy that well and have told the wife that it can surely wait a few more years until she's next back in the Philippines. Or, does anyone have any cunning plans which they have maybe used and would like to share. Cheers, Simon.

apologies - posted twice.....dumbkopf!

@S1966W Hi Simon , when my sister need the SPA to be my AIF, She sent me the document then I signed it and sent it back to her .

I don't really know but I suspect it does, I had to get loads of papers notarized here recently (they love all that here):

The Philippines embassy is like an Island of the Philippines in London... meaning you're really getting it notarised in the Philippines when you do it there so... it's kosher for want of a better word.

Yes, it would be good if the papers could be just sent over to the UK, my wife could sign and send them back. However, apparently that is not allowed, we must go down the SPA route, so that will entail a trip to London if we wish to proceed with this. I really can't be arsed but I'll send a couple of e-mails to the Embassy first to try and establish the actual requirements of the SPA. My wife no longer has a Philippine passport so this could also throw a spanner in the works. Ho hum.

No passport eh... she still has the right to own land there I presume?

Yes, Allowed 1000 sm residential lot or 1 hectare of Agricultural lot.

Can a former Filipino own land in the Philippines?

I can see this getting quite complicated.......!!

My wifes Philippine passport expired in 2010 and we never renewed it as she became a naturalized British citizen and hence British passport holder around 2008 ish. She has travelled back to the Philippines several times for shortish duration holidays on her British passport only.

I see on the Philippine Embassy website there is a form for Affidavit of Delayed Renewal of Passport, no doubt it would be prudent to renew her Philippine passport in conjunction with this SPA arrangement. In addition to the 300m2 land to which this SPA would pertain, she also has a house and lot of approx 900m2 also in Leyte, (purchased in her maiden name before we were married). This would exceed the 1000m2 allowed under 'former Filipino' ownership as highlighted by Jim, above.

So, the plan is to give this some serious thought before rushing into this SPA application because it seems there are some loose ends which require some consideration.

Thanks for the valued advice and comments upto now, appreciated, and would welcome anyones experiences of renewing a lapsed Filipino passport - is it really necessary to fill in the affidavit as highlighted above?

Cheers.

Bigger issue is need to reacquire/retain citizenship which requires doing oath of allegiance at embassy. Need that for new passport as well. I suspect that if they say they need it then will need to provide it so need to add late renewal affadavit to the list of things

@S1966W Oh dear , hope you get it sorted soon.