Free Delaware Limited Power of Attorney Form

A Delaware limited power of attorney authorizes an agent to handle a specific task for you, such as one transfer or one filing. Whether Delaware’s Durable Personal Powers of Attorney Act governs it depends on two things: durability and purpose.

Delaware’s act has a specific reach. Here’s how it sorts documents.

The Act Covers Durable Documents

The act regulates “personal” powers of attorney, which it defines as durable ones (12 Del. C. § 49A-102). A document becomes durable when it says it won’t be affected by your later incapacity, or uses similar words (§ 49A-104).

Many Single-Purpose Documents Sit Outside It

The act also lists documents it doesn’t apply to (§ 49A-103(a)). Several are common limited uses, including a power of attorney:

• Given to facilitate a specified transfer of identified assets
• Authorizing someone to prepare and file a document with a government agency or other third party
• Authorizing a financial institution to act on an account it holds for you
• Created on a form a government agency prescribes

If an excepted document is durable, Delaware points it to Chapter 49 or other applicable law. An excepted document that followed the law governing it is still recognized in Delaware (§ 49A-103(c)).

Signing Rules for a Durable Personal Document

A durable personal power of attorney must be in writing, dated, and signed in front of a notarial officer. It also needs one adult witness who isn’t related to you and doesn’t stand to inherit under your will or trust (§ 49A-105(a)).

Your Agent Certifies Before Acting

Under that same section, your agent has no authority under a durable personal document until they sign and attach an agent’s certification (§ 49A-105(c)).

It does if the act covers it. For a durable personal power of attorney, you need both a notarial officer and one qualified witness.

For a document outside the act, however, those execution rules don’t apply by their own terms. So ask the bank, agency, or title company that will receive it what signing it expects. If your document is durable and isn’t excepted, though, the act’s rules apply in full.

Decide the document’s reach first. Then follow these steps:

1. Name the exact task, such as transferring one identified asset.
2. Decide whether the authority should survive your incapacity.
3. If it should, add durable wording and follow the act’s signing rules.
4. Ask the receiving party what execution it requires for a non-durable document.
5. Sign before a notarial officer and one qualified adult witness.
6. Have your agent sign the certification before they act on a durable document.

Your Delaware limited power of attorney should read as a single, focused instruction. Include:

• The full names of the principal and the agent
• The specific transfer, filing, or account, described in detail
• A signing date
• Durability language, but only if you choose it
• A notary block and a witness line
• An agent’s certification page for a durable document
• Any compensation terms, since the act doesn’t assume them

Also say whether it replaces earlier documents. A new personal power of attorney doesn’t revoke an older one unless it says so (§ 49A-110(e)).

For a durable document, a few defaults apply too. It takes effect when signed unless you set a future date or event (§ 49A-109(a)). It ends once its purpose is accomplished (§ 49A-110(a)(4)). And if you name two agents without saying how they act, they’re treated as concurrent agents who can each act alone (§ 49A-111(c)). So a well-drafted Delaware limited power of attorney addresses all three.