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Financial Power of Attorney
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Name someone to manage your money if you become incapacitated. Answer a short set of questions and watch a complete durable financial power of attorney template assemble as you type. Free to build, no account needed, and your work saves automatically in this browser. Download or print it free.

This is a template to prepare and organize a durable financial power of attorney, not legal advice. Signing requirements vary by state, and gifting and other hot powers call for an attorney. Power of attorney, explained.

1. You, the principal

The person granting the power. Use your full legal name, exactly as it appears on your ID.

State signing rules load here. Pick your state above.

2. Your agent

The person who handles your money and property under this document. Pick someone organized and honest, and name a successor in case your first choice can’t serve.

3. Powers granted

Every power you check appears in the document, numbered. Uncheck anything you don’t want your agent to have. Gifts are off by default.

Gifting power lets your agent give your money away. Many states treat it as a "hot power" that must be granted expressly. Talk to an attorney before granting it.

4. When it takes effect

A durable power of attorney survives your incapacity either way. The question is when your agent's authority starts.

5. Special instructions

Optional. Limits or directions for your agent: accounts they may not touch, a spending cap, a person they must consult. Plain sentences work.

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Durable Power of Attorney

of [YOUR FULL LEGAL NAME]

[COUNTY] County, [STATE]

I, [YOUR FULL LEGAL NAME], a resident of [COUNTY] County, [STATE], appoint [AGENT FULL NAME] as my agent (attorney-in-fact) to act for me in any lawful way with respect to the powers granted in this document. This is a durable financial power of attorney.

Article I. Successor Agent

If [AGENT FULL NAME] is unable or unwilling to serve as my agent, I appoint [SUCCESSOR AGENT FULL NAME] to serve as successor agent. My successor agent has the same powers and the same duties as my original agent.

Article II. Powers Granted

I grant my agent authority to act for me in each area listed below.

  1. Real property: to buy, sell, lease, mortgage, and manage real estate on my behalf.
  2. Tangible personal property: to buy, sell, and manage vehicles, household goods, and other personal property on my behalf.
  3. Banks and other financial institutions: to open and close accounts, deposit and withdraw money, endorse checks, and access safe deposit boxes on my behalf.
  4. Stocks and bonds: to buy, sell, and manage securities and brokerage accounts on my behalf, and to vote shares I own.
  5. Insurance and annuities: to buy, maintain, change, borrow against, and cash in insurance policies and annuity contracts on my behalf.
  6. Retirement accounts: to manage my IRAs, 401(k)s, and other retirement plans, including contributions, rollovers, and distributions.
  7. Taxes: to prepare, sign, and file my tax returns and to represent me before the IRS and state tax authorities.
  8. Claims and litigation: to assert, pursue, settle, and defend legal claims on my behalf, and to hire attorneys to do so.
  9. Operation of a business: to operate, manage, contract for, and sell any business interest I own.
  10. Government benefits: to apply for and manage Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, veterans benefits, and other government programs on my behalf.
  11. Digital assets and electronic communications: to access and manage my online accounts, digital files, and electronic communications, to the extent the law allows.

Article III. Effective Date and Durability

This power of attorney takes effect immediately and isn’t affected by my subsequent incapacity. It remains in effect until my death, unless I revoke it earlier.

Article IV. Agent Duties

My agent shall act in my best interest and in good faith, act only within the authority this document grants, keep a complete record of receipts, disbursements, and transactions made on my behalf, and keep my property separate from their own.

Article V. Revocation

I may revoke this power of attorney at any time while I am competent, by giving written notice to my agent. This power of attorney ends at my death. I revoke any financial power of attorney I signed before this one.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I sign this Durable Power of Attorney on this ______ day of ______________, 20____, at ____________________, [STATE].

[YOUR FULL LEGAL NAME], Principal

Notary Acknowledgment

State of ______________________________

County of _____________________________

Subscribed and sworn to before me on this ______ day of ______________, 20____, by [YOUR FULL LEGAL NAME], who proved their identity to me with satisfactory evidence.

Notary Public

My commission expires: ____________________

Witnesses

Witness (if your state requires witnesses)

Address: ____________________________________

Witness (if your state requires witnesses)

Address: ____________________________________

Prepared with MORTL (mortl.com). This is a template to prepare and organize a durable financial power of attorney, not legal advice. Signing requirements vary by state. Talk to an attorney before granting gifting or other hot powers.

Bracketed placeholders fill in as you complete the form. Print shows only the document text.

How to make this template a valid power of attorney

  1. Check your state's signing rules. Pick your state in the form. The panel shows whether you need a notary, witnesses, or both, with a link to the statute.
  2. Sign it in front of a notary. Most states require notarization for a financial power of attorney, and banks routinely refuse documents without it. If your state also requires witnesses, they sign at the same time.
  3. Give copies to the people who need them. Your agent, your successor agent, and your bank. Some banks want to review a power of attorney before they will honor it, so send it before there’s an emergency.
  4. Use your state's statutory form if it has one. Some states publish an official form that banks and title companies recognize on sight. You can copy your answers from this template onto it.
  5. Revisit it after big changes. Divorce, a falling-out with your agent, a move to another state. In many states, divorce automatically removes an ex-spouse as agent.

This is a template to prepare and organize a durable financial power of attorney, not legal advice. Execution requirements vary by state. If you want your agent to make gifts, change beneficiaries, or create trusts, get an attorney involved. Browse the provider directory.

The short answer

A durable financial power of attorney names who can handle money and paperwork while you're alive and can't: pay the mortgage, deal with the bank, sign the tax return. It ends at death, where the will takes over. Signing rules are state law, and banks are pickier than the law, so complete it properly and expect institutions to want their own forms too.

Reviewed August 2026 · Execution requirements are state law. · Sources: Cornell Law School, Legal Information Institute

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What Financial Power of Attorney helps you do

Build a durable financial power of attorney, free, as a PDF or Word file, with your state's signing rules in the signing block. Confirm the current form and execution rules before signing. Choose an agent, define the authority they receive, and decide when it begins. Then sign the document under current state requirements. Improper execution may cause an institution to reject or question it, so confirm the rules before relying on the document.

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