Clear Money Guide
What this guide covers
A quick view of the questions and evidence developed below.
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Updated August 3, 2026. Quick answer: 18 jurisdictions publish a power-of-attorney form you can get for nothing, from the state itself. If yours is one of them, that is where to start — and almost nothing written about this subject will tell you so, because almost everything written about it is published by somebody selling a form.
The states that publish one free
| Jurisdiction | Free official source | Statute | How it must be signed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Illinois | official source | 755 ILCS 45/3-3 | Notary AND one witness both required: the principal’s signature must be acknowledged before a notary public and attested by at least one witness (the |
| Iowa | official source | Iowa Code §633B.301 | Notarization (acknowledgment) required; no witnesses required. Must be signed by the principal, or in the principal’s conscious presence by another individual (not a prospective agent) directed by the principal, and acknowledged before a notary public or other authorized individual. |
| Kentucky | official source | KRS 457.420 | KRS 457.050 requires only that the POA be signed by the principal (or, in the principal’s conscious presence, by another individual directed by the principal, with the reason stated); notarization is not strictly required for validity, but only an ‘acknowledged’ (notarized) POA is presumed genuine and qualifies for the Act’s mandatory third-party acceptance rules. No witnesses are required at any point. |
| Maryland | official source | Md. Code, Estates and Trusts §17-202 (‘Maryland Statutory Form Personal Financial Power of Attorney’) | For POAs executed after October 1, 2010: must be signed by the principal (or a designee in the principal’s physical presence), acknowledged before a notary public, AND attested and signed by two or more adult witnesses in the presence of the principal and each other — notary and witnesses are both required, not alternatives. |
| Montana | official source | MCA 72-31-353 | A POA is validly executed and effective if simply signed by the principal (or, in the principal’s conscious presence, by another individual directed by the principal), with no witnesses and no notarization required for basic validity; however, notarized (“acknowledged”) execution is needed to trigger the signature-genuineness presumption and the mandatory third-party acceptance duties. |
| Nebraska | official source | Neb. Rev. Stat. 30-4041 | A POA must be signed by the principal (or by another in the principal’s conscious presence at the principal’s direction) and, unlike the base Uniform |
| Nevada | official source | NRS 162A.620 | A POA must be signed by the principal (or, in the principal’s conscious presence, by another individual directed by the principal), with a signature presumed genuine only if acknowledged before a notary public; notarization is not mandatory for basic validity and no witnesses are required, though a principal residing in a hospital/facility must have a competency certification attached. |
| New Hampshire | official source | RSA 564-E:301 | Execution requirements vary by POA type: a “general power of attorney” must be signed and acknowledged before a notary public plus have a statutory disclosure statement affixed; a power to convey real estate likewise must be signed and notarized; any other (limited) POA need only be signed, with notarization only creating a presumption of genuine signature. No witnesses are required for any type. |
| New Mexico | official source | NMSA 1978 § 45-5B-301 (Statutory form power of attorney) | NMSA 1978 § 45-5B-105 requires only that the POA ‘be signed by the principal or in the principal’s conscious presence by another individual direc |
| New York | official source | General Obligations Law (GOL) § 5-1513 (Statutory short form power of attorney) | GOL § 5-1501B requires the POA to be signed, initialed and dated by the principal, with the signature ‘duly acknowledged in the manner prescribed |
| North Carolina | official source | N.C. Gen. Stat. § 32C-3-301 | Under G.S. 32C-1-105 a POA must be (i) signed by the principal (or, in the principal’s conscious presence, by another individual directed by the principal) and (ii) acknowledged before a notary public or other official authorized to take acknowledgments; no witnesses are required. |
| Ohio | official source | Ohio Rev. Code § 1337.60 | R.C. 1337.25 requires only that the POA be signed by the principal (or, in the principal’s conscious presence, by another individual directed by the principal); acknowledgment before a notary public is not mandatory but creates a presumption that the signature is genuine, and no witnesses are required. |
| South Dakota | official source | S.D. Codified Laws § 59-12-41 | The power of attorney must be signed by the principal (or, in the principal’s conscious presence, by another individual directed to sign) and the signature must be acknowledged before a notary public or other individual authorized to take acknowledgments (§ 59-12-4); no attesting witnesses are required. |
| Utah | official source | Utah Code § 75A-2-301 (Title 75A, Chapter 2, Part 3, “Statutory Forms”) | As of the 5/7/2025 amendment, a principal (or another individual signing in the principal’s conscious presence at the principal’s direction) must sign the power of attorney before a notary public or other individual authorized to take acknowledgments, and the principal must have sufficient mental capacity to understand that an agent is being appointed to handle financial affairs; the statute does not require any witnesses. |
| Vermont | official source | 14 V.S.A. § 4051 (Subchapter 3, Statutory Forms) | A power of attorney must be signed by the principal, or in the principal’s conscious presence by another individual directed by the principal to sign; notarization is optional and only creates a rebuttable presumption that the signature is genuine, and no witnesses are required at all. |
| West Virginia | official source | W. Va. Code § 39B-3-301 et seq. (Chapter 39B, Article 3 – Statutory Forms) | The power of attorney must be signed by the principal (or by another individual in the principal’s conscious presence at the principal’s direction) and must be acknowledged by the principal before a notary public or other person authorized by law to take acknowledgments; no witnesses are required. |
| Wisconsin | official source | Wis. Stat. § 244.61 (Statutory Form Power of Attorney for Finances and Property) | The principal (or another adult signing at the principal’s express direction and in the principal’s physical presence) must sign the power of attorney; that is the only mandatory act. Notarized acknowledgment, or an alternative supervised two-witness remote/videoconference procedure with strict conditions, are not required for basic validity but each independently creates a rebuttable presumption of genuine signature and ‘acknowledged’ status needed to trigger the mandatory third-party acceptance regime. |
| Wyoming | official source | Wyo. Stat. § 3-9-301 (Statutory form power of attorney) | The power of attorney must be signed by the principal (or by another person in the principal’s conscious presence at the principal’s direction); that |
Links go to the state’s own site. Verify the signing requirements on your state’s page before you sign — they are what decide whether the document is valid.
If your state is not on the list above, or the form does not fit
Where a state publishes a free official form, use it. Where it does not – or where you need co-agents, successor agents, limits on gifting, or a document built for a bank that has already given you trouble – LawDepot builds a state-specific power of attorney executed under your own state’s witnessing and notary rules.
LawDepot pays us a commission if you buy through this link — it costs you nothing extra. We are not a law firm and this is not legal advice. Affiliate Disclosure.
Where the form lives in the statute but is not published separately
10 more jurisdictions put a form in the statute without publishing a ready-to-use copy: California, Delaware, District of Columbia, Idaho, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas.
The text is still free — it is in the code, and the code is public. What you are doing there is transcribing statutory text rather than filling in a prepared document, which is more work and more error-prone.
And where there is no statutory form at all
12 verified jurisdictions have no form in statute: Arizona, Florida, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Jersey, North Dakota, Oregon, South Carolina, Virginia, Washington.
That does not mean a power of attorney is harder to make there — it means there is no official template to copy, so the document has to be drafted to satisfy the state’s execution rules on its own terms.
What a free form does and does not do
What it does: gives you a document written to satisfy your own state’s statute, at no cost, for a straightforward appointment — one agent, general authority, no unusual powers.
What it does not do:
- It will not tell you whether you signed it correctly. The form is the easy part; the execution requirements are what decide validity. What your state requires.
- It usually will not handle co-agents or successors well, and a document with no living agent does nothing.
- Gifting authority is commonly restricted and often has to be granted expressly.
- It will not make a bank accept it. That is a separate fight with its own statutes — the acceptance deadlines and the attorney-fee remedy.
Why we are telling you this
We do earn a commission if you use the paid option below. We would rather say plainly that most people in these 18 jurisdictions should use the free official form first and come back only if the situation genuinely outgrows it. A page that buries the free option to protect a commission is not worth reading, and you would be right not to trust the rest of it either.
General information drawn from IRS, Medicare, HUD and state statute and regulation, not legal, tax or financial advice. Continuing-care law is state law and differs materially between states; every figure here is year-labelled and every source named. Powers of attorney, guardianship and trusts are governed by STATE law and differ materially between states. Execution requirements decide whether a document is VALID, so verify them against your own state’s current statute before signing anything. We are not a law firm and this is not legal advice.