General power of attorney for one's affairs (France)
Published byDocMuse
This document is in French
The PDF you download is in French — that is the language it has to be filed in, so it is not translated. Everything on this page is here to tell you what it says.
For handing the day-to-day running of your affairs to someone close during an absence, a hospital stay or a stay abroad: paying bills, collecting income, dealing with public offices. Written in general terms, it covers acts of administration only (article 1988 of the French Civil Code); selling or giving away property needs an express power. To arrange your own protection in advance should your faculties decline, the mandat de protection future (Cerfa 13592 or a notarial deed) is the route the law provides. Signed by principal and agent, in two copies.
- Made for use in France
- Last updated October 13, 2026
When to use this document
- You are going abroad for several months and want a close relative to pay your bills and handle your post.
- You are going into hospital and someone you trust needs to deal with your bank and insurers meanwhile.
- You are often away and want a family member to handle your paperwork with public offices in France.
- You want to give someone close a general power of attorney to handle your day-to-day affairs.
What you fill in
The details the document asks for.
- Principal
- Principal's date of birth
- Principal's address
- Agent
- Agent's date of birth
- Agent's address
- Acts of disposal expressly added (optional)
- Power of attorney takes effect on
- Duration of the power
- End date of the power (if limited)
- City
- Date
Preview
This document is produced for you. Your answers are typed into it and the finished PDF is yours to keep.
Common questions
- What can a French general power of attorney do, and what not?
- It covers acts of administration: running accounts, paying, collecting, signing or ending everyday contracts, dealing with public offices. Written in general terms, it cannot sell, give away or mortgage property (article 1988 of the French Civil Code): that needs an express power and, for an act before a notary, the power of attorney the notary asks for. Banks often ask for their own power-of-attorney form to be signed at the branch; show them this document at the same time.
- French general power of attorney or mandat de protection future: which one?
- They do not serve at the same time. The power of attorney lasts as long as the principal still runs their own affairs; it ends if they are placed under guardianship (article 2003 of the French Civil Code). The mandat de protection future takes effect when the principal's faculties decline and avoids a court measure: it is made on Cerfa form 13592, free on service-public.gouv.fr, or before a notary. DocMuse does not draft it.
- Must a French general power of attorney be made before a notary?
- No: for acts of administration a private power of attorney is enough. If a bank or an office wants a certified signature, the town hall where the principal lives can certify it free of charge, in the principal's presence and on sight of an ID document. Each party keeps an original; the agent shows theirs with their own ID. To end the power, send a revocation to the agent and to every body that knows of it.
How you can sign this document
- Print it and sign by hand. The signature lines in the document are left blank on purpose — sign on them in ink.
- Sign it yourself with a qualified electronic signature. If you already hold a QES — Evrotrust, B-Trust, StampIT, ZealiD or any qualified provider on the EU Trusted List, on a card, a USB token, in a mobile app or in the cloud — our signing guide explains step by step how to sign this exact file without invalidating it. Step-by-step help, and a way to check it worked
DocMuse sells documents, not legal advice. Acceptance always depends on the recipient's rules and your local law.
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