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

Florida runs the opposite way from most states, which makes this the easier document to create there. A Florida Non-Durable (General) Power of Attorney gives an agent broad authority over your financial affairs and ends when you become incapacitated. In Florida you get that result by leaving specific words out, not by writing a limit in. The rules are in the Florida Power of Attorney Act at part II of chapter 709 of the Florida Statutes.

The execution requirements are the strictest in this document family, and they apply whether or not the document is durable.

Two Witnesses and a Notary

Your document has to be signed by you and by two subscribing witnesses, and acknowledged by you before a notary public or as otherwise provided in section 695.03. Both parts are mandatory under section 709.2105(2). This is not a choice between witnesses and a notary.

If You Cannot Physically Sign

Florida routes that through the notary rather than through a general directed-signer rule. Where you are physically unable to sign, the notary before whom your oath or acknowledgment is made may sign your name on the document.

Who Your Agent Can Be

The field is limited. Your agent must be a natural person who is 18 years of age or older, or a financial institution that has trust powers, has a place of business in Florida, and is authorized to conduct trust business in the state.

Leaving the Durability Words Out

A Florida document is durable only if it contains words stating that the durable power of attorney is not terminated by subsequent incapacity of the principal except as provided in chapter 709, or similar words showing that intent. Omit them, which is what section 709.2104 leaves you free to do, and you have a non-durable document.

No, and that sets Florida apart. Durability in Florida comes from words on the page under section 709.2104, so a document that says nothing about incapacity is not durable. Readers who have dealt with a power of attorney in another state often assume the reverse, because many states presume durability and require you to opt out.

The practical consequence is a drafting one. In Florida you are not writing a limitation into your document. You are declining to include a specific block of language, which means the risk runs the other way: pick up a generic template built for a presume-durable state and you may end up with durability you did not intend, rather than the Florida Non-Durable (General) Power of Attorney you wanted.

Section 709.2106 sets when a document counts as validly executed. One executed on or after October 1, 2011, is valid if its execution complies with section 709.2105. One executed before that date is valid if its execution complied with Florida law at the time. One executed in another state that does not meet Florida’s execution requirements is still valid here if it complied with the law where it was executed when it was signed.

Everyone signs at the same sitting.

1. Fill in your details and your agent’s, checking your agent qualifies under section 709.2105(1).
2. Set out the authority you are granting.
3. Leave the section 709.2104 durability language out of the document entirely.
4. Add your end date, or the task that finishes the authority.
5. Gather two witnesses who will subscribe the document.
6. Sign in their presence, and have both of them sign.
7. Have a notary public take your acknowledgment of the signature.
8. Keep the executed original somewhere your agent can reach it.

A complete Florida Non-Durable (General) Power of Attorney shows:

• Your name and address, and your agent’s
• Confirmation your agent meets the statutory qualifications
• The authority granted, itemized
• No durability language anywhere in the document
• Your end date or defined task
• Your signature, two subscribing witness signatures, and the notary acknowledgment