Free Arkansas Non-Durable (General) Power of Attorney Form

Arkansas puts a clock on the people who receive this document, which is unusual and useful. An Arkansas Non-Durable (General) Power of Attorney gives an agent broad financial authority that stops if you become incapacitated. Getting there takes one added sentence, because the Uniform Power of Attorney Act at Title 28, Chapter 68 of the Arkansas Code runs the other way by default.

The mechanics are light. The wording is where your attention belongs.

Signing and Notarizing

Your signature is what is needed, or a signature made in your conscious presence by another individual you direct to sign your name. Acknowledge it before a notary public, or another individual authorized by law to take acknowledgments, and it is presumed genuine. Section 28-68-105 sets that out, and section 28-68-119 lets someone who accepts an acknowledged document in good faith rely on the presumption.

The Sentence That Makes It Non-Durable

Arkansas starts from durability, so your document has to expressly provide that it is terminated by your incapacity. That default is in section 28-68-104. On the Arkansas statutory form the Special Instructions field is where the sentence belongs, and the form’s own guidance notes that unless you specify otherwise, your agent’s authority generally continues until you die or revoke it, or the agent stops acting.

When It All Stops

The document terminates when you die, when you become incapacitated if it is not durable, when you revoke it, when it says it terminates, when its purpose is accomplished, or when your agent stops and no replacement is named. Your agent’s authority also ends if an action is filed to dissolve or annul their marriage to you, or for legal separation, unless the document provides otherwise. Section 28-68-110 carries that list.

Copies Count as Originals

A photocopy or electronically transmitted copy of an original power of attorney has the same effect as the original, under section 28-68-106.

Within seven business days, in most cases. Section 28-68-120 says a person presented with an acknowledged statutory form power of attorney must either accept it, or request a certification, a translation, or an opinion of counsel, no later than seven business days after presentation. If they request one of those, they must accept the form no later than five business days after receiving it. They may not require a different or additional form for authority the statutory form already grants.

The section also names when refusal is allowed. Examples include actual knowledge that the authority has ended, a good faith belief that the power is not valid, and a report made to the Department of Human Services stating a good faith belief that you may be subject to abuse, neglect, exploitation, or abandonment by the agent.

Where a refusal does break the rule, Section 28-68-120 exposes the refusing party to a court order mandating acceptance. It also creates liability for reasonable attorney’s fees and costs incurred in the proceeding that confirms validity or mandates acceptance. That is a strong argument for building your Arkansas Non-Durable (General) Power of Attorney on the statutory form rather than a document of your own design.

1. Complete the designation of agent, and name a successor if you want a fallback.
2. Initial only the subjects of general authority you intend to grant.
3. Initial anything under Grant of Specific Authority you genuinely want allowed.
4. Write your non-durable limit into Special Instructions, expressly providing that the document terminates on your incapacity.
5. Add an end date there too, if the job has one.
6. Sign and date the document.
7. Acknowledge your signature before a notary public and have the certificate completed.
8. Pass the original to your agent and keep a dated copy for your records.

Follow the statutory form’s own layout. A finished Arkansas Non-Durable (General) Power of Attorney contains:

• Your name, and your agent’s name, address, and telephone number
• Any successor agent, and a second successor if you want one
• Only the subjects of general authority you initialed
• Special Instructions carrying your non-durable limit and any end date
• Your signature, the date, and the notary’s acknowledgment