Durable Power of Attorney

California: Civil Code 1091 requires the specified written, subscribed transfer or operation of law, including an agent authorized in writing; 1092 supplies a short grant form.

California: under 4121, date the power and have the principal sign, or another adult sign the principal's name in the principal's presence and at their direction.

A California power of attorney is DURABLE only if the writing contains language showing the principal intends the authority to continue notwithstanding incapacity, such as that it is not affected by subsequent…

A power may spring on a future event or contingency, including incapacity, and the principal may designate who determines it occurred. Name the certifier in the document or the delay defeats the purpose.

CALIFORNIA'S UNIFORM STATUTORY FORM POWER OF ATTORNEY, with initial lines for each subject of authority and the statutory notice. Start from it;

Runs against the refusing third person, not for him. A third person who refuses to honor an agent's properly executed Part 3 statutory form power of attorney within a reasonable time MAY BE COMPELLED TO HONOR THAT…

The listed acts require express authority, with trust-instrument limits for modifying or revoking a principal-created trust and the court-approved detrimental-transfer disclaimer exception preserved.

A spouse attorney-in-fact's authority is revoked on dissolution, annulment or legal separation unless the power says otherwise. A client who still wants their spouse to act must say so expressly.

How each initialled subject in the statutory form is construed. Read the definition of a power before granting it.

A principal may nominate a conservator in the power of attorney, and the court gives that nomination weight. Cheap to include and it keeps the client's choice in front of the court if a conservatorship is later needed.

Protects a person who IN GOOD FAITH ACCEPTS AN ACKNOWLEDGED POWER OF ATTORNEY absent actual knowledge that it is forged, void, terminated or exceeded, and lets that person request and rely on an agent's certification, a…

Connecticut's hot powers. An agent reaches inter vivos trusts, gifts, survivorship rights, beneficiary designations, joint and survivor annuity waivers, delegable fiduciary powers, disclaimers, digital assets and…

The statutory SHORT FORM and LONG FORM. A document substantially in either form creates a statutory power of attorney with the meaning the Act gives it, and the Act does not bar a different form.

A Connecticut power of attorney is DURABLE BY DEFAULT and survives the principal's incapacity unless it expressly says otherwise. Same default as Pennsylvania.

Connecticut: section 1-350d requires a dated power signed by the principal or a directed signer in the principal's conscious physical presence, and WITNESSED BY TWO WITNESSES.

Effective on execution unless the principal makes it spring on a future date, event or incapacity, and the principal may name who determines that the trigger occurred.

Unless the power says otherwise, the agent is entitled to reimbursement of expenses and to reasonable compensation. A family agent who should not be paid needs an express clause.

What the real property authority lets an agent do, including selling and mortgaging. This is the authority a title company will look for; grant it expressly if the client may need property sold while incapacitated.

A deed or letter of attorney concerning land, ONCE ACKNOWLEDGED OR PROVED AND THE ACKNOWLEDGMENT CERTIFIED, is recorded with its certificate in the recorder's office for the county where the land lies.

The principal may nominate a guardian of the person or property in the power of attorney, and the section orders the agent's relationship to a later court-appointed fiduciary.

Protects a person who IN GOOD FAITH ACCEPTS AN ACKNOWLEDGED power absent actual knowledge of a defect: signature, instrument and agent authority may be relied on as genuine and valid.

Delaware's hot powers. An AGENT NEEDS AN EXPRESS GRANT in the power of attorney to: create, amend, revoke or terminate an inter vivos trust; make a gift;

DELAWARE DOES NOT MAKE POWERS DURABLE BY DEFAULT. A power of attorney is durable only if it CONTAINS WORDS like 'This power of attorney shall not be affected by the subsequent incapacity of the principal' or 'This power…

Delaware: section 49A-105 requires a written, dated personal power, signed by the principal or a person signing the principal's name at their express direction and in their presence, in the presence of a notarial…

Effective when executed unless the principal provides that it springs on a future date, event or incapacity, with the section's machinery for determining that the trigger occurred.

A person presented with an acknowledged personal power of attorney in, or sworn-translated into, English MUST ACCEPT IT unless a subsection (b) ground applies, and may not demand a different form.

A power of attorney ends on the principal's death, on incapacity if non-durable, on revocation, on a stated termination event, or on completion of its purpose;

Third parties acting in good faith without actual knowledge of a defect may rely on a notarized power of attorney, and a party requesting a certification or translation must accept the instrument within a reasonable…

Makes every power of attorney durable by default, surviving the principal's incapacity, unless the instrument expressly states it terminates on incapacity.

District of Columbia: under 21-2601.05, the principal signs or directs another to sign the principal's name in the principal's conscious presence.

A power of attorney is effective immediately on execution unless the principal specifies a future date or contingency;

Provides DC's optional statutory financial power-of-attorney form covering property and financial matters, letting the principal name a primary and successor agents, initial general-authority subject areas, add special…

A power of attorney authorizing real estate transactions must be executed and recorded like a deed, carry specific front-page notice language, and have the principal initial whether the grant covers all real property or…

Under DC's Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, a fiduciary (including an executor or an agent under a power of attorney) owes the duties of care, loyalty, and confidentiality when accessing digital assets,…

Requires an agent who accepts appointment to act in good faith, within the scope of granted authority, loyally and without conflicts of interest, to keep records of transactions, to attempt to preserve the principal's…

An agent may make gifts of the principal's property only if the power of attorney expressly grants that authority, and absent a different stated limit, gifts are capped at the federal annual gift-tax exclusion amount…

Florida: the ordinary new power under 709.2105 is signed by the principal and TWO SUBSCRIBING WITNESSES and acknowledged by the principal before a notary or under 695.03.

FLORIDA DOES NOT MAKE POWERS DURABLE BY DEFAULT. A power is durable only if it contains words like 'This durable power of attorney is not terminated by subsequent incapacity of the principal except as provided in…

FLORIDA ABOLISHED THE SPRINGING POWER for instruments executed on or after October 1, 2011: a power is effective when executed, with the narrow military exception the section states.

How a Florida power is revoked. Revoking means doing what the section requires, not destroying a copy.

The general authority an agent has, which in Florida must be EXPRESSLY GRANTED in the document rather than incorporated by reference to statutory subjects.

How the Act treats powers executed before it took effect. Check before advising that an older Florida power is governed by current rules.

This section sets out the Maryland statutory form personal financial power of attorney in full, beginning with the IMPORTANT INFORMATION AND WARNING that opens it, and running through the designation of agent and…

The limited form opens with a PLEASE READ CAREFULLY warning and lets the principal give only the specific authorities indicated rather than a general grant, with the same execution and acceptance consequences as the…

A custodian must disclose the content of a principal's electronic communications to an agent only to the extent the power of attorney expressly grants the agent authority over the content of electronic communications,…

The section supplies an optional form in which the agent certifies under penalty of perjury the facts a third party commonly asks about, including that the principal is alive and has not revoked, that the agent's…

Section 17-104 bars requiring another form for authority granted in a statutory form power. Its refusal remedies concern an acknowledged statutory form power and a refusal in violation of this section;

The power terminates on the principal's death, on incapacity if it is not durable, on revocation, on its own terms, when its purpose is accomplished, or when the agent's authority ends and no successor is named;

Durability is the default: a written power of attorney survives the principal's later disability or incapacity unless the document says otherwise, and the agent accounts to any guardian later appointed.

Maryland: for the ordinary section 17-110 route, use a writing signed by the principal or an expressly directed signer in the principal's physical presence, acknowledged by the principal in a notary's physical or…

A power of attorney is effective when executed unless the principal provides that it becomes effective at a future date or on a future event or contingency, and where it is springing the section supplies the machinery…

Acts done under a durable power during the principal's incapacity bind the principal as if they were competent, and unless the instrument states a termination time the power continues.

Massachusetts: section 5-501 defines a durable power through a written designation and words showing that authority survives subsequent disability or incapacity, or begins on it.

A parent or guardian may delegate powers over a minor or incapacitated person's care by a power of attorney for a limited period.

A person may NOMINATE their own guardian in a will or other signed writing, and the court gives that nomination effect on the terms the section states.

The conservator's powers over the protected person's property. Useful to compare against what the client's agent is granted, so the power of attorney is not narrower than the court-appointed alternative.

How the agent's authority relates to a later court-appointed conservator or guardian, and the principal's ability to nominate one in the instrument. Nominate the client's preferred conservator in the document;

An agent or third party acting in good faith WITHOUT knowledge of the principal's death or of a revocation is protected. Revoking means giving actual notice, not destroying a copy.

What the court must find before appointing a guardian, including that a less restrictive alternative is not available.

The defined terms for Article V, including incapacitated person and protective proceeding. These decide when a court steps in despite a power of attorney, so they set the boundary of what the agent can hold.

The agent's affidavit that the power has not been revoked or terminated is conclusive proof for someone relying in good faith. This is the affidavit a bank or closing attorney will ask for;

A custodian must disclose the content of a principal's electronic communications to an agent only to the extent the power of attorney expressly grants the agent authority over the content of electronic communications,…

An agent who presents or acts under a power of attorney is a fiduciary under the Uniform Fiduciaries Law. Tell the client's agent that duties of loyalty, care and accounting attach the moment the instrument is used.

A power of attorney does not authorize the agent to make gifts of the principal's property unless the instrument expressly says so; a broad general grant is not enough.

All acts done by an attorney-in-fact under a durable power while it is effective by its terms, including any period when the principal is under a disability, have the same effect and bind the principal and the…

A banking institution and its people are not liable for injury from any act or omission performed in good faith and within the scope of their duties in reliance on a power of attorney under the act, unless the act or…

A power of attorney is a written instrument by which a principal authorizes one or more individuals, or a qualified bank under C.17:9A-28, to perform specified acts as the principal's agent.

Unless a court orders otherwise, the principal directs otherwise or the power provides otherwise, a custodian must disclose to an agent with specific authority over digital assets or general authority to act a catalogue…

The banking authority in this act is triggered by magic words: it applies if the power of attorney contains language conferring authority on the agent to conduct banking transactions as set forth in section 2 of…

The agent may exercise all powers under the act that the principal could exercise, upon and after presentation of the power of attorney to the banking institution, for any banking transaction conducted in New Jersey or…

A banking institution must accept and rely on a power of attorney conforming to the act and must let the agent exercise the authority the act confers, subject to stated exceptions: it must refuse where the principal's…

This section contains the statutory short form itself: the Caution to the Principal that opens it, the designation of agents and successor agents (co-agents must act together unless the principal initials the statement…

A custodian must disclose the content of a principal's electronic communications to an agent only where the power of attorney expressly grants authority over the content of electronic communications, and then only on a…

A third party located or doing business in New York may not refuse without reasonable cause to honor a properly executed statutory short form;

The duties of care, loyalty and confidentiality that apply to tangible property apply to digital assets, a fiduciary's authority is subject to the terms of service except as the article provides, and authority over the…

New York: section 5-1501B's in-state execution route, subject to section 5-1512 and its preserved earlier instruments, requires legible twelve-point type or a reasonable written equivalent.

A principal may modify the statutory short form by adding language in the Modifications section that supplements or limits the standard authority, and the form remains a statutory short form for the mandatory-acceptance…

The power terminates on the principal's death, on revocation, on the agent's death, incapacity or resignation where no successor takes over, on a court order, or on the terms of the instrument, and a revocation is…

This section supplies the exact form of certificate of acknowledgment for an individual within New York, the form that the power of attorney's acknowledgment must follow because GOL 5-1501B requires the principal's…

An agent who has accepted appointment must act according to the principal's instructions or, where there are none, in the principal's best interest, avoid conflicts, keep the principal's property separate, keep a record…

The Tax Department's own estate tax power of attorney, signed and dated by the executor, who appoints named individuals to act on estate tax matters. It is FOR ESTATE TAX MATTERS ONLY;

The principal may nominate a guardian in the power of attorney and the section orders the agent's relationship to a court-appointed fiduciary. Cheap to include and it keeps the client's choice before the court.

OHIO'S HOT POWERS. An agent may create, amend, revoke or terminate a trust, make a gift, create or change rights of survivorship, create or change a beneficiary designation, delegate authority, waive a joint and…

An Ohio power of attorney is DURABLE BY DEFAULT and survives incapacity unless it expressly says otherwise.

Ohio: section 1337.25 requires the principal to sign, or another individual to sign the principal's name at the principal's direction and in the principal's conscious presence.

Effective when executed unless the principal makes it spring on a future date, event or incapacity, and the principal may name who determines the trigger occurred.

OHIO PUBLISHES A STATUTORY FORM power of attorney with initial lines for the specific-grant powers. Start from it;

Coagents may act independently unless the power provides otherwise, and successors may be named. Decide deliberately; independent action surprises families.

The optional statutory form an agent uses to certify facts about the power. This is what a bank will ask for; give it to the agent with the executed document.

The duties an accepted agent owes regardless of the document, including good faith, acting within scope and according to the principal's reasonable expectations, plus default duties including record-keeping.

Nine express-authority categories with trust cross-reference exceptions, contrary-instrument limits, agent-benefit restrictions and separate gift/disclaimer rules.

Protects a person who accepts a power of attorney in good faith without actual knowledge that a signature is not genuine or that the power is void, invalid or terminated.

Powers of attorney are presumed DURABLE unless the document says otherwise, which is the reverse of the older common-law default. A client who wants the power to lapse on incapacity has to say so expressly.

Defines the durable power and allows a springing power effective at a future time or on a specified contingency, including incapacity.

Pennsylvania: for a new ordinary financial power under section 5601(b), date and sign by signature or mark, or, if unable to sign, through a specifically directed signer.

The menu of short statutory phrases that invoke defined powers, each of which section 5603 defines. Using the statutory wording imports the defined meaning; inventing wording means a third party has to interpret it.

What each statutory phrase from section 5602 actually authorises, power by power. This is the section that decides the real scope of a Pennsylvania power of attorney, so read the definition of any power before granting…

An agent or third party acting in good faith WITHOUT actual knowledge of the principal's death or of a revocation is protected, and the section also addresses the effect of divorce proceedings on a spouse agent.

An agent's affidavit that they had no actual knowledge of revocation, death, incapacity or a divorce filing is conclusive proof of that for someone relying in good faith. This is the affidavit a bank will ask for;

TEXAS HOT POWERS. An agent may take five acts ONLY IF THE POWER OF ATTORNEY EXPRESSLY GRANTS THEM and no other instrument bars them: create, amend, revoke or terminate an inter vivos trust; make a gift;

Texas: section 751.0021 requires a writing or other record designating an agent and granting authority, signed by an adult principal or another adult directed to sign the principal's name in the principal's conscious…

TEXAS PUBLISHES A STATUTORY DURABLE POWER OF ATTORNEY FORM with initial lines for each category of authority and the required notice to the principal. Start from it;

What the Durable Power of Attorney Act covers and what it excludes, including medical powers, which are governed by the Health and Safety Code instead. Do not use one instrument for both.

The fiduciary duties a Texas agent owes, including loyalty and record-keeping. Do not draft a clause purporting to waive them.

The agent's duty to account to the principal or to a person the principal names. A useful protection to build in by naming a monitor in the document.

Liability for an unreasonable refusal to accept a durable power of attorney, including fees. Read with section 751.206's permitted grounds for refusal.

The power terminates when the principal dies, when the principal becomes a vulnerable adult if the power is not durable, on revocation, on a termination provided in the instrument, when its purpose is accomplished, or…

A third party who accepts an acknowledged power of attorney in good faith may rely on it, and may first ask for the agent's certification, a translation or an attorney's opinion.

Eight acts are unavailable unless the power of attorney expressly grants them and no other statute, agreement, or instrument bars them: creating, amending, revoking, or terminating an inter vivos trust; making a gift;

A power of attorney used to convey or encumber land must be recorded in the clerk's office where the property lies, and must satisfy the execution standards for recordable writings.

A power of attorney created under this chapter is durable and survives the principal's incapacity unless the instrument expressly provides that it terminates on incapacity.

Virginia: section 64.2-1603 requires the principal's signature, or another person's signature of the principal's name at the principal's direction and in the principal's conscious presence.

The power is effective when executed unless the principal provides that it takes effect on a future date, event, or contingency, and the principal may authorize one or more persons to determine in a writing or other…

An agent may obtain a catalog of the principal's digital assets and communications metadata by presenting the power of attorney and a certification that it remains valid;

A power of attorney executed in Virginia on or after July 1, 2010 is valid if its execution complies with § 64.2-1603, one executed here earlier is valid if it complied with the law then in force, and one executed…

A principal may name two or more coagents, each of whom may act independently unless the instrument provides otherwise, and may name successor agents or grant an agent or another person designated by name, office, or…