Lawyer in Jordan for Residents of the USA and Canada: Powers of Attorney, Service and Documents When a Matter Is Handled from Abroad
Someone who lives in the United States or Canada and has an estate in Jordan that has not been divided, land they want to sell, a marriage that has not been registered, or a lawsuit filed against them usually cannot leave work and travel to follow it in person, and a mistake made from far away is rarely discovered before it becomes final. The family and inheritance matters of Muslims are governed by Personal Status Law No. 15 of 2019 before the Sharia courts, and dealings in real property are governed by Real Estate Ownership Law No. 13 of 2019 and carried out at the Department of Lands and Survey. Many of these matters can move forward without travel, but only through someone with legal standing in Jordan who holds a power of attorney drafted precisely for its purpose and follows the service of papers, the hearings and the government departments on time. That is why the first thing a resident of the USA or Canada needs is a lawyer in Jordan who studies the file before any text is signed or any document is sent.
1. What Living Abroad Changes
The matter stays before the Jordanian courts and departments, but living in the USA or Canada changes who acts in the person's name, how news of the lawsuit reaches them, and whether their papers issued there will be accepted. Each of these carries a familiar mistake that is hard to correct later.
The order of these things is not the same in every file. In one matter the power of attorney may be the starting point, while in another it is examining the service or the effect of a foreign paper, and it is the lawyer who sets the order after reviewing the matter and the stage it has reached, because starting with the wrong step can cost time or a right.
Living abroad does not take a Jordanian outside the jurisdiction of the Jordanian Sharia courts. Sharia Procedure Law No. 31 of 1959 gives the Sharia courts in the Kingdom jurisdiction over lawsuits brought by or against a Jordanian citizen, so a family or inheritance lawsuit can be filed against a Jordanian in Jordan while they are in the USA or Canada. Holding American or Canadian nationality alongside Jordanian nationality does not change the law applied to them, because Article 26 of Jordanian Civil Code No. 43 of 1976 provides that Jordanian law is the one that must be applied to a person who holds Jordanian nationality and the nationality of a foreign state at the same time.
This article covers the family and inheritance matters that the Sharia courts hear for Muslims; the family matters of non-Muslims follow their own religious community councils, and this article does not cover them.
2. Acting Through a Power of Attorney from Abroad
When the person concerned lives in the USA or Canada, an agent holding a power of attorney acts for them in Jordan, so the text of the power of attorney becomes the line between what the agent may do and what the agent may not. Once the power of attorney is in the agent's hands, the power to act is in the agent's hands, and the right-holder far away can no longer watch every step. That is why the text of a power of attorney is drafted according to its purpose. Determining the authority before which the power of attorney will be used, and the limits of what it authorizes the agent to do, varies with the nature and facts of the matter, which is itself a legal point that merits consultation.
Among the things the lawyer examines before drafting the power of attorney is the agent himself, and whether the agent has an interest in the matter he will act in, such as being an heir who shares in the same estate or being interested in buying the property he is to sell. Someone acting for another in a matter that concerns him personally may not take the position the right-holder would have taken if present.
One point many people living abroad miss is that a power of attorney does not end because its maker travels, nor through the passage of time alone. The Civil Code lists among the causes of its ending the completion of the task assigned, the expiry of the term set for it, and the death of the principal, and Article 863 allows the principal to revoke the agent whenever he wishes, unless a third party's right is attached to the power of attorney or it was issued for the agent's benefit. So a power of attorney left with a relative years ago that no such cause has ended may still be in force, while its maker abroad cannot see what is done with it. The kinds of power of attorney and what follows from each are covered in the power-of-attorney article listed in the table below.
3. Service and Judgment When One Party Is Abroad
A lawsuit in Jordan does not stop because one of its parties lives in the USA or Canada. In cases before the regular courts, Article 13 of Civil Procedure Law No. 24 of 1988 governs service on a person who resides in a foreign country where their domicile is known, through diplomatic channels or through a private company approved for that purpose, subject to the provisions of any international agreement, and Article 16 of the same Law provides that failure to observe the time limits, procedures and conditions of service results in nullity. Sharia cases, such as divorce, maintenance and inheritance, follow the procedure set by the Sharia Procedure Law, which provides that if the plaintiff attends and the defendant does not attend after being duly served with the hearing date, the court decides to hear the case and continue the trial against the defendant in absentia at the plaintiff's request; the same Law has its own rules on challenging a judgment in absentia.
This Law allows a person who has no domicile in the Kingdom to adopt a chosen domicile for the purposes of service; that domicile can be proven only in writing, and if its holder cancels it without the other party knowing, the person may be served by publication. A chosen domicile brings court papers closer to someone living abroad, but it also makes them bear the effect of every service that reaches that domicile, which is why the lawyer studies with the client whether to adopt one and what follows from it in their file.
The practical danger is the same in both: the court paper may go to an old address or arrive in a way its recipient does not notice, so the hearings go ahead without a defense and the person learns of the judgment only when it reaches the enforcement stage or when they return to Jordan. That is why the first thing the lawyer examines in the file of someone against whom a judgment was issued while abroad is the service itself and whether it was valid under the law that governs the procedure of the court that issued the judgment; the lawyer then assesses the available route of challenge. The routes of challenge are bound by time limits that the lawyer calculates from the facts of the file, and a delay in showing the judgment to the lawyer may cost the person concerned a route that was open to them. Do not act on a court paper that reaches you from Jordan, and do not ignore it, before you show it to a lawyer.
4. What the Lawyer in Jordan Handles for Residents of the USA and Canada, and the Limits of That Work
When the client lives abroad, the lawyer in Jordan becomes the party who actually stands before the courts and departments. In these files the lawyer drafts the text of the power of attorney to suit the purpose and the authority to which it will be submitted, and then represents the client before the Jordanian courts and departments under it. The lawyer's work is limited to Jordanian law; an American divorce judgment or a will written in Canada is studied only for its effect in Jordan, and the lawyer gives no opinion on the law of the state or province where it was issued.
The first thing the lawyer looks at on receiving a file from abroad is the stage the matter has reached: whether a lawsuit has been filed or a judgment issued, and whether a disposition has been registered with the Department of Lands and Survey. The lawyer then looks at the papers the person concerned holds abroad, and at any earlier power of attorney still in force in Jordan.
Practical note: Documents issued in the USA or Canada need authentication before a Jordanian authority accepts them, and the lawyer checks that they meet the instructions in force at the time of the transaction. These instructions are updated from time to time, the requirements of the Jordanian authority to which the document will be submitted may differ from those of the embassy itself, and a paper rejected after it arrives may mean starting the route again from the beginning. That is why every document merits a review of the case before it is sent, or consult a specialist lawyer.
One reason mistakes are hard to correct is that Jordanian law protects the stability of registered real estate transactions, so a disposition registered with the Department of Lands and Survey is hard to undo; the real property sale article listed in the table below covers this question.
5. The Matters Residents of the USA and Canada Face in Jordan
The following table brings together the matters this series covers, the framework under which each is heard in Jordan, and where the risk lies when it is handled from abroad, with the article that covers it in detail:
| Matter | Framework under which it is heard in Jordan | Where the risk lies when handled from abroad | Article |
|---|---|---|---|
| Power of attorney | The Jordanian mission's instructions, and the requirements of the authority before which the power of attorney will be used | A power of attorney broader than its purpose, or wording the authority does not accept | Powers of Attorney from the USA and Canada for Use in Jordan |
| Inheritance determination and division of the estate | The Personal Status Law and the Sharia courts, then the Department of Lands and Survey if the estate includes real property | An heirs' buy-out agreement (takharuj) or a broad power of attorney given to one of the heirs | Inheritance Determination for Heirs Living in the USA and Canada |
| Selling or managing real property | The Real Estate Ownership Law and the Department of Lands and Survey | A sale registered under a power of attorney that is hard to reverse | Selling Real Property in Jordan from the USA and Canada |
| Divorce and maintenance | The Personal Status Law and the Sharia courts | A case that goes ahead in the absence of one of the spouses | Divorce and Maintenance with a Spouse Living in the USA or Canada |
| A divorce issued in the USA or Canada | The Personal Status Law, and the route the lawyer determines according to the nature of the foreign judgment | The extent to which the foreign divorce is recognized in Jordan | Confirmation in Jordan of a Divorce Granted in the USA or Canada |
| A marriage concluded in the USA or Canada | The Personal Status Law and the Sharia courts | A marriage that has not been registered in Jordan | Registering in Jordan a Marriage Concluded in the USA or Canada |
| A will written in the USA or Canada | The Personal Status Law's rules on wills and inheritance | The extent to which the foreign will takes effect on property in Jordan | A Will Written in the USA or Canada and Inheritance in Jordan |
In these matters the risk usually appears on the day the paper reaches the Jordanian authority or the day the agent acts, that is, after the signing has already happened. Choosing the right framework for each matter, and the limits of what is given to the agent in it, are two assessments the lawyer makes on the facts of each file.
6. Frequently Asked Questions
Can a lawyer in Jordan follow a Sharia lawsuit without the client traveling?
The Sharia Procedure Law provides that everything the parties may do or carry out before the court may be done by the lawyer appointed under a duly executed power of attorney. The lawyer at Alabwini Law Firm drafts the text of the power of attorney and represents the client before the Jordanian courts and departments, while whether a particular matter requires the client to attend in person is something the lawyer assesses after studying the file.
Does American or Canadian nationality change the law applied to a Jordanian in Jordan?
No. Article 26 of the Civil Code provides that Jordanian law is the one that must be applied to a person who holds Jordanian nationality and the nationality of a foreign state at the same time, and the Sharia courts have jurisdiction over lawsuits brought by or against a Jordanian citizen.
Does an old power of attorney I gave a relative before I left remain valid?
It may remain in force unless one of the causes for ending a power of attorney set by the Civil Code has ended it, or the principal revokes the agent under Article 863 of the Civil Code unless a third party's right is attached to it. The lawyer reviews the status of any earlier power of attorney before a new one is drawn up.
What if a judgment is issued against me in Jordan while I live abroad?
The lawyer first examines how service was carried out and whether it was valid under the law that governs the procedure of the court that issued the judgment: the Civil Procedure Law before the regular courts, and the Sharia Procedure Law before the Sharia courts. The lawyer then assesses the available route of challenge according to the type of judgment and the court that issued it, and each route has its own time limits.
Does the lawyer in Jordan give an opinion on American or Canadian law?
No. Alabwini Law Firm's work is limited to Jordanian law, so it studies a judgment or will issued in the USA or Canada only for its effect before the Jordanian courts and departments.
Legal Consultation
Handling a legal matter in Jordan from the USA or Canada carries mistakes that are hard to correct: for the holder of a right, a single power of attorney may give away more than intended, and for someone who has been sued, a judgment may be issued in their absence before they learn of it. What is registered with the Department of Lands and Survey or decided before the Sharia Court on the strength of a paper drafted in haste is not easily remedied afterwards. The lawyer at Alabwini Law Firm drafts the text of the power of attorney and represents the client before the Jordanian courts and departments, within the limits of Jordanian law alone, and for specialist legal consultation in Sharia and family rights cases you can contact Alabwini Law Firm & Legal Consultancy by WhatsApp, phone or email, daily from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Amman time.
